WILD  FLOWER  PRESERVATION 

A  COLLECTOR'S  GUIDE 


CTICKOO  FLOWER,  WITH  THE  DIFFERENT  PARTS  OF  THE 
FLOWER  ENLARGED  (see  p.  104). 


WILD  FLOWER 
PRESERVATION 

A  COLLECTOR'S  GUIDE 


BY 

MAY  COLEY 

AND 

CHARLES   ALFRED  WEATHERBY 


WITH  TWENTY-NINE  ILLUSTRATIONS  BY  HILDA  M.  COLEY. 
UNA  L.  FOSTER  AND  FROM  PHOTOGRAPHS 


NEW  YORK 

FREDERICK  A.  STOKES  COMPANY 
PUBLISHERS 


Copyright,  1915,  by 
FREDERICK  A.  STOKES  COMPANY 

All  rights  reserved,  including  that  of  translation  into 
foreign  languages. 


February \ 


NOTE 

THE  Authors  acknowledge  the  kind  permission 
of  Messrs.  Macmillan  &  Co.,  Ltd.,  for  the  in- 
clusion of  Figs.  79  A  and  B  (from  Sir  J.  D. 
Hooker's  Botany),  and  of  Mr.  John  Grant  for 
Figs.  85  and  89  A  and  B,  in  this  book  (from 
Flowers:  Their  Origin,  Shapes,  Perfumes,  and 
Colours,  by  J.  E.  Taylor,  F.G.S.,  F.L.S.). 


PREFATORY  NOTE 

In  revising  this  little  book  for  use  in  Amer- 
ica, I  have  tried  to  make  as  few  alterations 
as  possible.  It  has  been  necessary  to  substi- 
tute American  books  and  American  flowers 
for  the  unfamiliar  English  ones  mentioned  by 
Miss  Coley,  and  to  change  somewhat  her  direc- 
tions for  pressing  and  mounting  plants  in 
favor  of  methods  which  experience  with  my 
own  collection  and  in  one  of  the  great  public 
herbaria  has  convinced  me  are  quicker  and 
better  than  those  which  she  describes.  But  the 
plan  and  spirit  of  the  book  are  hers ;  hers,  also, 
are  its  chief  merits. 

C.  A.  WEATHEEBY. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  I 

PAGE 
FOREWORD 15 

Wild  Flower  Preservation  for  flower  lovers  and 
amateur  students — rFor  more  advanced  natural- 
ists failing  to  preserve  plants  successfully  —  For 
boys  and  girls  at  school  —  Preservation  of  plants 
an  art  in  itself  —  No  haphazard  performance  — 
That  prosaic  word  "  herbarium  " —  A  doleful  defi- 
nition —  A  dainty  collection  of  plants  —  Poetry  and 
flowers  inseparable. 

CHAPTER  II 

THE    BOTANICAL    OUTFIT 23 

Must  be  orderly  and  neat  —  A  list  of  requisites  — 
Working  expenses  small  after  initial  outlay  — 
Well  illustrated  Flora  indispensable  —  How  to  se- 
cure second-hand  books  —  How  to  make  a  press  — 
Separate  mounts  versus  albums  —  Cabinet  for  stor- 
ing the  collection. 

CHAPTER  III 

A  NATURE  NOTE-BOOK 49 

A  necessity  to  students  —  Records  of  plant  struc- 
ture—  Locality  and  date  of  "finds" — Your  own 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

observations  —  Drawings  of  plants  —  Various  kinds 
of  Nature  Notes  —  Record  of  the  months  —  Notes 
a  reflection  of  yourself  —  The  poetry  of  flowers. 


CHAPTER  IV 

HOW   TO    STUDY   PLANT   LIFE 63 

"How  can  I  study  plant  life?" — Confusing  num- 
ber of  books  on  the  subject  —  A  simple  beginning 
—  Best  way  of  learning  meanings  of  technical 
terms  —  A  first  lesson  in  plant  study  —  Tall  But- 
tercup—  Floral  mechanism  of  Robin's  Plantain  — 
List  of  abbreviations  used  in  notes  —  Useful  books 
for  further  study  —  Attempting  too  much  —  The 
botanical  bore  —  The  interesting  botanist  —  The 
use  of  English  names. 


CHAPTER  V 

GATHERING     WILD     FLOWERS 91 

Use  of  basket  or  collecting  case  —  Choosing  a 
specimen  for  preservation  —  Wanton  and  destruc- 
tive gathering  —  Only  a  few  of  each  species  to  be 
picked. 

CHAPTER  VI 

THE  IDENTIFICATION   OF  PLANTS 99 

Early  identification  —  Examination  of  the  Cuckoo- 
flower—  Scientific  methods  of  identification  use- 
less to  beginners  —  An  examination  of  Mathews's 
Field  Book  —  A  popular  and  simple  method  of 
classification  —  Example  of  plant  description. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  VII 

PAGE 
THE  AKT  OF  PRESSING  WILD  FLOWERS  ....    115 

Press  immediately  after  identification  —  Frail  na- 
ture of  most  wild  flowers  —  Rules  for  pressing 
plants  —  Unnatural,  wizened  specimens  belonging 
to  some  naturalists  —  Dried  plants  must  not  re- 
semble scare-crows  —  Methods  of  pressing  plants 

—  How  to  press  knobby  flower-heads  successfully 

—  Changing  the   drying  papers  —  Pressing  fruits 

—  Use  of  a  storing  press. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

MOUNTING    THE    PLANTS 141 

Plants  must  not  be  left  long  unattached  —  Requi- 
sites at  hand  for  mounting  —  How  to  mount  the 
plants  —  Pressure  —  Portions  not  adhering  to  be 
refixed — Classification  in  the  herbarium — Natural 
growth  to  be  studied  —  How  to  mount  plants  in 
albums  —  A  collection  of  graceful,  natural-looking 
plants  — "  Let  Nature  be  your  teacher." 

CHAPTER  IX 

A  GLOSSARY  OF  BOTANICAL  TERMS 153 

Various  roots  —  Stems  —  Leaves  —  Leaf  arrange- 
ments—  The  inflorescence  —  The  flower  and  its 
parts  —  Various  forms  of  the  corolla  —  Fertiliza- 
tion —  Fruits  —  The  seed  — The  embryo. 


INDEX 


189 


LIST  OF  PLATES 

CUCKOO   FLOWER Frontispiece 

FACING    PAGF 

I.  THE  BOTANICAL  PRESS 37 

II.  TALL  BUTTERCUP 70 

III.  EOBIN'S  PLANTAIN 76 

IV.  GREAT  WILLOW-HERB 94 

A  poor  specimen  for  preservation. 

V.     GREAT  WILLOW-HERB 95 

A  good  specimen  for  preservation. 

VI.    OX-EYE  DAISY 113 

VII.    WILD  YAM-ROOT 124 

Eightly  and  wrongly  preserved. 

VIII.    PURPLE  IRIS 126 

How  to  arrange  tall-growing  plants  for  preserva- 
tion. 

IX.      HOW  TO  PRESERVE  AN  Ox-EYE  DAISY  SUCCESS- 
FULLY        130 

X.    WOOD  SORREL 144 

"The    walking-stick;   method"    andl   the    correct 
method  of  mounting. 

XI.    PALE  SPIKED  LOBELIA 148 

"  The   sign-post    method "   of   mounting   and   the 
correct  one. 

XII.    WILD  STRAWBERRY  IN  FLOWER  AND  FRUIT     .  150 


GLOSSARY  PLATES 


XIII.    Including  figs. 

1 

to        6 

FACING   PAGE 

156 

XIV. 

7 

9 

..       157 

XV. 

10 

15 

..       158 

XVI. 

16 

20 

..       159 

XVII.            "          " 

21 

28 

..       160 

XVIII. 

29 

36 

..       161 

XIX.            " 

37 

11       44 

..       162 

XX.            " 

45 

53 

..       164 

XXI.           "          " 

54 

60 

..       165 

XXII.            "          " 

61 

68 

..       166 

XXIII. 

69 

73 

..       168 

xxrv.        "       " 

74 

85 

..       172 

XXV.           "          " 

86 

96 

..       176 

XXVI.           "          " 

97 

"      107 

..       180 

XXVII.            "          " 

108 

"      116 

..       181 

CXVIII. 

117 

"      127 

184 

FOREWORD 


"The  most  helpful  and  sacred  work  which  can  at 
present  be  done  for  humanity,  is  to  teach  people  .  .  .  not 
'how  to  better  themselves,'  but  how  to  'satisfy  them- 
selves. '  .  .  .  And  in  order  to  teach  men  how  to  be  satis- 
fied, it  is  necessary  fully  to  understand  the  art  of  joy 
and  humble  life  .  .  .  the  life  of  domestic  affection  and 
domestic  peace,  full  of  sensitiveness  to  all  elements  of 
costless  and  kind  pleasure ; — therefore  chiefly  to  the  love- 
liness of  the  natural  world.  .  .  .  We  shall  find  that  the 
love  of  nature,  wherever  it  has  existed,  has  been  a  faithful 
and  sacred  element  of  feeling ;  .  .  .  Nature- worship  will 
be  found  to  bring  with  it  such  a  sense  of  the  presence  and 
power  of  a  Great  Spirit  as  no  mere  reasoning  can  either 
induce  or  controvert ;  ...  it  becomes  the  channel  of  cer- 
tain sacred  truths,  which  by  no  other  means  can  be  con- 
veyed. ' ' 

JOHN  RUSKIN,  Frondes  Agrestes. 


WILD  FLOWER  PRESER- 
VATION 


CHAPTER  I 
FOREWORD 

Wild  Flower  Preservation  for  flower  lovers  and  amateur 
students — For  more  advanced  naturalists  failing  to 
preserve  plants  successfully — For  boys  and  girls  at 
school — Preservation  of  plants  an  art  in  itself — No 
haphazard  performance — That  prosaic  word  "her- 
barium"— A  doleful  definition — A  dainty  collection 
of  plants — Poetry  and  flowers  inseparable. 

Wild  Flower  Preservation  has  been  written 
mainly  for  the  amateur  botanist,  the  ordinary 
lover  of  Nature  who,  whether  living  in  the 
country  or  visiting  it  only  at  rare  holiday 
times,  yet  longs  to  know  the  names  and  ways 
of  plants ;  how  they  are  related  to  one  another ; 
how  they  protect  themselves  from  their  ene- 
mies— whether  those  enemies  are  cows  or 
merely  tiny  ants  and  soft-bodied  slugs — how 

15 


16      WILD  FLOWER  PRESERVATION 

such  plants  grow  and  develop  from  the  tiny 
seedlings  greening  the  banks  in  spring  into  the 
waving  trails  of  summer  foliage  and  the  won- 
der of  flower  and  fruit. 

Many  such  amateurs  may  be  town  and  city 
dwellers,  ignorant  of  the  names  of  all  but  the 
commonest  flowers,  yet  eager  to  grasp  every 
chance  of  a  few  hours  in  the  country ;  to  escape 
from  the  din  and  strain  of  the  streets  into  the 
peace  and  the  sweet  air  of  flower-land ;  eager, 
too,  to  enter  into  the  life  of  this  glorious  won- 
derland. 

But  some  of  you  have  been  living  in  a  world 
of  flowers  for  years,  almost  asleep  to  its  loveli- 
ness, its  mystery  and  its  joy.  But  in  an  idle 
moment  you  peeped  into  the  heart  of  a  flower. 
It  "stabbed  your  spirit  broad  awake,"  and 
ever  since  you  have  seen  more  of  the  world  you 
live  in  and  have  tried  to  learn  something  of  the 
miracles  worked  daily  in  the  fence-rows  and 
by  the  common  roadside. 

To  all  such  readers  I  hope  Wild  Flower 
Preservation  will  be  a  help  and  an  inspiration, 
not  only  through  what  you  may  learn  from  its 
own  pages,  but  because  of  the  introductions  it 


FOREWORD  17 

gives  you  to  other  and  wiser  books.  I  only 
stand  just  within  the  Gate  called  Beautiful 
beckoning  you  to  enter  the  Temple;  teaching 
you  how  to  watch  and  how  best  to  learn,  and 
giving  to  each  the  guides  who  shall  unfold  the 
greater  mysteries  beyond. 

There  are,  too,  many  students,  both  ama- 
teurs and  more  experienced  botanists,  who 
wish  to  do  something  beyond  learning  the 
names  and  ways  of  plants.  They  want  some 
beautiful  memento  of  their  spring  and  summer 
rambles  and  of  the  differing  floras  of  their  hol- 
iday haunts.  They  would  like  to  preserve 
some  of  the  plants  they  find.  I  hope  this  book 
will  help  all  such  students  to  do  this  success- 
fully. 

Some  of  you  may  chance  to  be  most  experi- 
enced and  advanced  naturalists ;  but  in  spite  of 
your  knowledge  of  plant-life  you  are  disap- 
pointed with  the  result  of  drying  and  pressing 
your  flowers,  and  you  are  conscious  that  your 
herbarium  is  anything  but  beautiful.  If  so, 
and  if  it  also  chances  that  you  have  a  humble 
and  teachable  spirit,  there  is  no  reason  why 
you  should  not  soon  turn  these  mournful  col- 


18      WILD  FLOWER  PRESERVATION 

lections  into  the  most  delightful  of  posses- 
sions ! 

Some  of  you  may  be  even  yet  at  school  and 
fired  with  a  desire  to  make  the  school  herba- 
rium "a  thing  of  beauty  and  a  joy  forever," 
instead  of  a  dismal  cemetery  of  departed  love- 
liness as  it  too  often  is!  I  hope  I  shall  be 
able  to  help  you  girls  and  boys  to  realize  your 
wish. 

But  Wild  Flower  Preservation  has  not  been 
written  for  the  professional  botanist  or  the 
lordly  being  who  knows  quite  well  that  plants 
cannot  be  pressed  successfully;  so  if  you  are 
that  type  of  soured  or  learned  person  let  me 
implore  you  to  put  the  book  down  at  once !  It 
will  not  interest  you. 

Now  it  is  very  easy  for  students  to  dream 
dreams  of  wonderful  herbaria  and  of  glorious 
mementoes  of  wild-flower  land.  You  must  re- 
member that  preserving  wild  flowers  is  an  art 
and  not  the  incidental  and  haphazard  per- 
formance that  many  people  have  supposed. 
Flicking  flowers  into  a  book  for  preservation 
or  rapidly  tucking  them  between  the  sheets 
of  a  blotting  and  newspaper  bed  bear  just 


FOREWORD  19 

about  the  same  relationship  to  the  real  art  as 
crystoleum  painting  to  the  work  of  Millais! 
They  are  not  even  "in  the  running";  so  please 
take  the  art  of  pressing  wild  flowers  as  seri- 
ously as  you  would  any  other. 

It  has  been  the  fashion  in  some  quarters  to 
deride  the  herbarium  and  to  speak  very  loftily 
of  the  superiority  of  an  intelligent  knowledge 
of  living  plants  over  a  mere  prosaic  collection 
of  dried  specimens;  flat,  mangled,  miserable 
objects  that  have  meant  the  destruction  of 
much  wayside  beauty  and  by  no  means  always 
increased  the  botanical  knowledge  of  their  col- 
lector. 

All  this  sounds  very  derisive,  and  very 
discouraging,  and  certainly  very  superior; 
but  just  a  little  thought  shows  us  that  too 
many  assumptions  are  made  in  such  state- 
ments. 

The  glib  repetition  of  Latin  names,  of  plant 
organs  and  their  numbers  never  yet  made  a 
botanist — though  it  has  often  made  a  bore! 
Therefore  "an  intelligent  knowledge  of  living 
plants"  is  what  every  true  botanist  strives 
after,  whether  he  preserves  his  "finds"  or  not; 


20      WILD  FLOWER  PRESERVATION 

but  it  is  this  same  knowledge  that  helps  to 
make  the  herbarium  natural  and  lovely. 

A  collection  of  dried  plants  need  not  be  pro- 
saic and  the  specimens  need  not  look  "  man- 
gled and  miserable."  The  truth  is  that  many 
botanists  in  the  past  had  more  learning  than 
patience  and  common  sense,  and  their  collec- 
tions have  so  discouraged  the  younger  gen- 
eration of  naturalists  that  many  of  these  have 
given  up  pressing  any  but  their  rarer  " finds." 
This  is  a  great  pity  for  if  plants  are  care- 
fully and  sensibly  pressed  most  of  them  re- 
main beautiful  to  the  end,  and  when  mounted 
they  are  of  infinitely  greater  value  than  any 
colored  plate  or  printed  description. 

You  may  think  that  detailed  instructions 
for  preserving  plants  are  rather  prosaic,  and 
that  there  is  little  romance  or  poetry  about 
drying-papers ;  but  though  yours  is  only  pre- 
servative work  the  same  complaint  may  be 
made  of  the  tools  used  in  creative  art.  There 
is  nothing  specially  attractive  in  a  sculptor's 
chisel  or  in  charcoal  and  canvas,  and  no  po- 
etical charm  about  a  tube  of  paint;  though  I 
will  admit  that  this  last  seems  most  delightful 


FOREWORD  21 

and  enthralling  to  a  tiny  child — so  long  as  its 
mother's  back  is  turned! 

Perhaps  the  old  definitions  have  helped  to 
surround  the  subject  with  gloom.  A  well- 
known  dictionary,  published  in  1861,  gives  the 
following  enchanting  explanation  of  the  word : 
"Herbarium,  a  collection  of  dried  plants  or 
their  more  important  botanical  parts.  (Usu- 
ally flattened  and  glued  on  sheets  of  paper.)  " 
It  is  of  course  correct,  yet  how  woefully  unat- 
tractive it  sounds!  It  is  surely  enough  to 
scare  away  all  desire  for  such  gloomy  posses- 
sions !  I  suggest  the  following  as  an  alterna- 
tive: "A  collection  of  plants  preserved  by 
pressure  and  the  absorption  of  moisture,  and 
afterwards  so  mounted  upon  card  or  paper  as 
to  show  their  natural  grace  and  beauty  and 
general  mode  of  growth." 

This  of  course  describes  the  collection  as  it 
should  be. 

I  must  admit  that  the  very  word  "  herba- 
rium" sounds  prosaic,  and  that  the  terms 
"dried  plants"  and  "specimens"  are  abso- 
lutely devoid  of  poetry.  That  is  just  the  pity 
of  it  all,  for  flowers  and  poetry  should  be  in- 


22      WILD  FLOWER  PRESERVATION 

separable.  Who  will  give  us  a  word  instead 
of  "herbarium,"  some  word  with  a  vision  in  it, 
a  vision  of  all  the  grace  and  loveliness  of  wild- 
flower  land  ? 


THE 

BOTANICAL 

OUTFIT 


"Therefore  all  seasons  shall  be  sweet  to  thee, 
Whether  the  summer  clothe  the  general  earth 
With  greenness,  or  the  redbreast  sit  and  sing 
Betwixt  the  tufts  of  snow  on  the  bare  branch 
Of  mossy  apple-tree. ' ' 

COLERIDGE. 


1 '  To  the  attentive  eye  each  moment  of  the  year  has  its 
own  beauty,  and  in  the  same  field,  it  beholds,  every  hour, 
a  picture  which  was  never  seen  before,  and  which  shall 
never  be  seen  again." 

EMERSON. 


CHAPTER  II 
THE  BOTANICAL  OUTFIT 

Must  be  orderly  and  neat — A  list  of  requisites — Working 

expenses  small  after  initial  outlay — Well  illustrated 

Flora   indispensable — How   to   secure   second-hand 

.     books — How   to   make    a    press — Separate    mounts 

versus  albums — Cabinet  for  storing  the  collection. 

A  BOTANICAL  outfit  may  be  as  simple  or  as  elab- 
orate as  your  purse  permits,  but  it  must  al- 
ways be  orderly,  neat,  and  dainty. 

Naturalists,  like  artists  and  poets,  were  once 
supposed  to  be  more  or  less  addicted  to  long 
hair  and  goggles,  to  be  absent-minded  and  to 
have  souls  above  order;  but  such  ideas  are 
fast  dying  out,  for  the  true  naturalist,  even  of 
the  most  bespectacled  variety,  has  cupboards 
and  drawers  arranged  with  the  utmost  care, 
and  woe  betide  the  unlucky  wight  who  meddles 
with  these  things ! 

When  gathering  together  a  botanical  outfit, 
be  sure  that  all  is  as  good  and  neat  as  you  can 
make  it,  and  then  keep  it  so. 

25 


26      WILD  FLOWER  PRESERVATION 

The  following  list  gives  all  the  articles  neces- 
sary for  an  amateur  botanist  anxious  both  to 
study  and  preserve  plants.  Those  who  have 
no  intention  of  pressing  and  mounting  their 
" finds"  will  require  only  the  first  ten 
items. 

1.  Basket  or  Collecting  Case. 

2.  Scissors. 

3.  Trowel  or  old  Tablespoon. 

4.  Supply  of  old  Newspapers. 

5.  Well  illustrated  Flora. 

6.  Some  simple  book  on  Plant  Study. 

7.  Magnifying-glass. 

8.  Sharp  Penknife. 

9.  Dissecting  Needles. 

10.  A  Nature  Note-book  and  Pencil. 

11.  Botanical  Press  with  double  Strap. 

12.  Stock  of  Drying-papers  and  Folders. 

13.  Small  and  large  Brush. 

14.  Small  quantity  of  Cotton-wool  or  Wad- 

ding. 

15.  Mounting-papers  and  Genus-covers,  or 

Album. 

16.  Piece  of  Plate  or  Window  Glass. 

17.  Liquid  Glue. 


THE  BOTANICAL  OUTFIT  27 

18.  Gummed  Paper  or  Surgeon's  Silk  Isin- 

glass Plaster. 

19.  Labels. 

20.  Pair  of  Forceps. 

21.  Case    or   Boxes    for   storing   mounted 

plants. 

22.  Moth-balls. 

This  seems  a  long  list,  but  Nos.  5  and  6  are 
the  only  necessarily  expensive  items.  Most 
people  already  possess  Nos.  1,  2,  3,  4,  8, 14  and 
22;  Nos.  9,  11,  21  and  even  12  may  be  manu- 
factured at  home,  and  the  rest  can  be  secured 
for  a  moderate  sum.  After  the  initial  outlay, 
the  working  expenses  of  this  study  are  very 
small. 

1.  The  Basket  or  Collecting  Case. — Collect- 
ing cases  or  "vasculums"  are  used  by  most 
botanists.  These  are  tin  boxes  in  the  form  of 
a  slightly  flattened  cylinder  and  with  a  hinged 
cover  opening  along  the  entire  length;  and 
there  is  nothing  better  for  their  purpose.  The 
secret  of  keeping  plants  fresh  lies  in  keeping 
them  from  the  air;  and'  these  tin  boxes  are 
practically  air-tight.  The  Bausch  &  Lomb 
Optical  Co.  of  Rochester,  K  'Y.,  sell  a  very 


28      WILD  FLOWER  PRESERVATION 

good  and  light  vasculum,  16  x  7  x  5  inches,  with 
strap  for  carrying,  for  $2.50;  and  the  Cam- 
bridge Botanical  Supply  Co.  of  Waverley, 
Mass.,  have  two  sizes — one,  18  x  6i  x  4i  inches, 
for  $1.50  and  a  larger  one  with  a  separate  com- 
partment for  delicate  specimens,  for  $2.50, 
both  without  strap. 

If  you  do  not  wish  to  buy  a  collecting  case, 
a  basket  will  serve.  An  old  fashioned  one 
with  a  lid  is  best;  when  this  cannot  be  ob- 
tained, secure  an  ordinary  oblong  market- 
basket.  Line  it  with  paper,  the  better  to  keep 
out  the  air,  and  if  it  has  no  cover,  put  a  piece 
of  paper  over  your  specimens  and  tuck  it  in 
round  the  edges.  If  you  are  caught  out  with- 
out your  equipment,  you  can  sometimes  get  a 
plant  home  in  fairly  good  condition  by  merely 
wrapping  it  tightly  in  paper. 

2.  Scissors. — Many  plants   are   better   cut 
with  scissors  than  pulled  and  broken  off  by 
the  fingers,  and  much  unnecessary  uprooting 
is  thus  avoided. 

3.  Trowel,  or  old  Tablespoon. — A  trowel  is 
necessary  when  roots  are  to  be  studied,  and 
this  should  be  done  whenever  the  plants  are 


THE  BOTANICAL  OUTFIT  29 

unknown  to  the  collector  and  there  is  no  dan- 
ger of  exterminating  them.  Do  all  in  your 
power  to  prevent  the  wholesale  destruction  of 
plant  life  so  common  among  a  certain  class  of 
amateur  botanists. 

An  old  cooking  tablespoon  makes  a  good 
substitute  for  the  trowel,  and  it  is  lighter  and 
smaller  to  carry. 

4.  Old  Newspapers. — These  have  many  pos- 
sible uses  for  plant  collectors,  but  their  chief 
service  in  the  field  is  in  bringing  home  water- 
plants.    Most  of  these  wither  very  quickly  if 
put  into  a  basket  like  other  plants,  but  if  first 
wrapped  in  three  or  four  thicknesses  of  damp- 
ened newspaper,  they  will  reach  home,  even 
after  many  hours,  in  an  only  slightly  wilted 
condition  in  which  the  leaves  are  often  more 
easily  handled  and  less  given  to  sticking  to- 
gether than  when  perfectly  fresh.     They  can 
be  restored  to  entire  freshness  by  floating  in 
a  bowl  of  water. 

5.  A  well  illustrated  Flora. — This  is  a  most 
important  item  and  little  can  be  done  without 
it.    If  a  Flora  is  to  be  of  much  value  to  an 
amateur  it  must  have  a  liberal  number  of 


30      WILD  FLOWER  PRESERVATION 

plates,  and  these  make  any  book  costly.  There 
are  wonderful  volumes  on  the  market  adver- 
tised as  containing  "descriptions"  of  so  many 
thousand  species;  but  they  are  "sair"  reading 
for  beginners,  who  depend  so  much  upon  pic- 
tures for  identifying  their  plants,  and  who 
flounder  hopelessly  among  the  shoals  of  tech- 
nical terms  offered  as  the  only  means  of  de- 
termining the  species.  A  well  illustrated 
Flora  interests  at  once  for  it  seems  to  be  full 
of  life. 

There  is,  at  present,  no  single  work  which 
describes  all  the  plants  of  North  America,  or 
even  of  the  United  States.  Indeed,  our  coun- 
try is  so  large  and  varied  and  the  number  of 
different  plants  which  grow  in  it  so  great,  that, 
for  the  amateur,  such  a  book  would  not  be  at 
all  desirable.  It  would  be  so  huge,  and  so  dif- 
ficult and  clumsy  to  use. 

The  following  books  treat  different  parts 
of  the  United  States  and  Canada : 

Northeastern  Section 

Britton  and  Brown's  Illustrated  Flora  of 
the  Northern  States  and  Canada,  3  vol., 


THE  BOTANICAL  OUTFIT  31 

quarto,  $13.50,  Charles  Scribner's  Sons,  New 
York.  This  is  the  only  work  which  attempts 
to  give  pictures  of  all  the  plants  of  any  part 
of  North  America.  It  covers  a  territory  ex- 
tending from  the  southern  boundary  of  Vir- 
ginia to  the  Arctic  regions  and  west  to  the 
100th  meridian  and  has  line  drawings,  of  vary- 
ing degrees  of  excellence  but  usually  helpful, 
of  no  less  than  4,666  species. 

Gray's  New  Manual  of  Botany,  $2.50,  Amer- 
ican Book  Co.,  New  York  (edition  on  thin 
paper,  bound  in  limp  leather,  convenient  for 
carrying  into  the  field,  $3.00) .  This,  the  latest 
of  the  well-known  series  of  Gray's  Manuals, 
covers  about  the  same  territory  as  the  Illus- 
trated Flora,  except  that  it  takes  the  48th  par- 
allel as  its  northern  boundary.  It  contains 
more  than  nine  hundred  small  but  admirable 
line  drawings  of  flowers  or  important  details 
in  the  more  difficult  groups  of  plants. 

These  are  technical  works.  If  you  carry 
your  botanical  studies  very  far,  you  will  want 
one  or  both  of  them ;  but  for  the  beginner  some 
simpler  and  less  comprehensive  book  is  easier 
to  use.  Such  are : — 


32      WILD  FLOWER  PRESERVATION 

Schuyler  Mathews's  Field  Book  of  American 
Wild  Flowers,  $2.00,  G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons, 
New  York,  in  limp  leather  binding,  $2.50. 
This  book,  of  convenient  pocket  size,  contains 
twenty-four  colored  plates  and  many  excellent 
line  drawings  illustrating,  in  all,  696  species 
more  or  less  completely.  There  are  brief  and 
simple  descriptions  and  incidental  notes  on 
methods  of  fertilization.  The  plants  are  ar- 
ranged systematically  (that  is,  according  to 
the  families  to  which  they  belong) .  There  is 
a  key,  based  on  the  characters  of  the  leaves  and 
the  number  of  parts  of  the  flowers,  and  also  a 
color-index  to  aid  in  identification. 

Mrs.  William  Starr  Dana's  How  to  Know 
the  Wild  Flowers,  $2.00,  Charles  Scribner's 
Sons,  New  York,  with  158  plates,  48  colored, 
the  rest  line  drawings.  The  plants  are  ar- 
ranged, first  under  the  color  of  their  flowers 
and  then  according  to  the  months  in  which 
they  blossom,  a  popular  method  which  makes 
identification  very  simple  for  beginners.  In 
all,  about  five  hundred  species  are  described. 

Alice  Lounsberry's  A  Guide  to  the  Wild 
Flowers,  $1.90,  Frederick  A.  Stokes  Co.,  New 


THE  BOTANICAL  OUTFIT  33 

York,  with  64  colored  plates  and  100  line 
drawings.  This  book  describes  about  500 
species,  chiefly  of  the  northeastern  section,  but 
including  a  few  from  the  West  and  South. 
The  plants  are  arranged  according  to  the  sit- 
uations in  which  they  grow,  from  water-plants 
to  those  of  dry  ground ;  then  according  to  their 
families  and  time  of  flowering.  There  are  de- 
scriptions of  some  of  the  larger  families. 

Southeastern  Section 

Alice  Lounsberry's  Southern  Wild  Flowers 
and  Trees,  $3.75.  Frederick  A.  Stokes  Co., 
New  York,  with  177  plates,  16  colored,  the  rest 
line  or  wash  drawings.  The  plants  are  ar- 
ranged systematically  with  a  key  to  the  fami- 
lies to  aid  in  identification. 

Rocky  Mountain  Region 

Julia  Henshaw's  Mountain  Wild  Flowers  of 
America,  $2.00,  Ginn  &  Co.,  Boston,  has  99  ex- 
cellent half-tone  plates  from  photographs. 
The  plants  are  arranged  according  to  the  color 
of  the  flowers. 

Stewardson  Brown's  Alpine  Flora  of  the 


34      WILD  FLOWER  PRESERVATION 

Canadian  Rocky  Mountains,  $3.00,  G.  P.  Put- 
nam's Sons,  New  York,  with  79  plates,  illus- 
trating more  than  twice  as  many  species,  thirty 
of  them  colored,  the  rest  half -tones  from  photo- 
graphs. The  plants  are  arranged  systemati- 
cally with  key,  glossarj^,  etc.  Though  the  work 
is  intended  to  cover  only  that  portion  of  the 
Eocky  Mountains  traversed  by  the  Canadian 
Pacific  Railway,  it  describes  many  species  of 
wide  range  in  the  mountains. 

California 

Mary  Elizabeth  Parsons 's  Wild  Flowers  of 
California,  $2.00,  Cunningham,  Curtis  & 
Welch,  San  Francisco,  has  about  150  good  line 
drawings.  The  flowers  are  arranged  accord- 
ing to  color. 

Let  me  tell  you  for  your  comfort  that  second- 
hand copies  (earlier  editions)  of  expensive 
Floras  can  be  bought  for  considerably  less  than 
the  prices  quoted  above.  'Your  bookseller 
will  advertise  for  you  in  his  trade  journal, 
which  circulates  among  second-hand  book- 
dealers.  This  will  not  cost  more  than  a  few 
cents. 


THE  BOTANICAL  OUTFIT  35 

6.  A  simple  book  on  Plant  Study. — See  p. 
65,  where  this  subject  is  fully  treated. 

7.  Magnifying-glass. — This  is  essential,  for 
it  is  impossible  to  examine  minute  flowers  with 
the  naked  eye.    A  linen  tester  makes  a  cheap 
and  convenient  glass.     It  can  be  folded  up  to 
take  into  the  field  and  when  opened  out  at  home 
makes  a  good  dissecting  glass  under  which  to 
separate  and  examine  small  parts  of  a  flower. 
Testers  may  be  bought  from  25  cents  upward : 
choose  one  with  a  strong,  clear  lens  and  the 
largest  obtainable  opening  in  the  standard. 

8.  Sharp  Penknife. — This  is  used  when  dis- 
secting flowers,  a  very  necessary  process  if  you 
are  to  know  them  thoroughly.    The  knife  must 
be  kept  perfectly  sharp  and  clean  and  must 
on  no  account  be  used  for  any  other  pur- 
pose. 

9.  Dissecting    Needles. — These    are    easily 
made,  and  I  cannot  do  better  than  quote  Pro- 
fessor Henslow's  instructions  for  mounting 
two  large  needles    (fours  or  fives)   in  pen- 
holders : — 

"  Thrust  the  point  into  the  broad  end  of  a 
wooden  penholder ;  then  take  it  out,  break  the 


36      WILD  FLOWER  PRESERVATION 

needle  in  two,  and  thrust  the  broken  end  of 
the  pointed  half  into  the  hole." 

10.  A  Nature  Note-book  and  Pencil. — The 
former  should  be  of  exercise-book  shape,  bound 
in  cloth.    It  will  cost  15  to  25  cents.    A  loose- 
leaf  note-book  is  still  better.     See  Chapter  III 
for  further  details. 

11.  Botanical  Press  with  double  Strap. — A 
Botanical  Press  consists  of  two  flat,  oblong 
boards  of  equal  size  and  thickness,  a  little 
larger  than  your  mounting  paper,  and  a  num- 
ber of  sheets  of  drying-paper  to  fit  them.     The 
whole  is  kept  in  place  by  a  double  strap  which 
is  tightened  or  loosened  according  to  the  num- 
ber of  plants  and  drying-sheets  in  the  press. 
Such  a  press  is  easily  made  at  home.    Well- 
seasoned  wood  must  be  bought  for  this  pur- 
pose, and  it  should  not  be  less  than  \  in.  in 
thickness.     Cut  it  to  the  required  size,  bevel 
the  edges  slightly  and  sandpaper  the  whole  un- 
til it  is  as  smooth  as  possible.    If  the  wood  is 
white  or  of  very  light  color  it  should  be  stained 
a  darker  shade,  for  light  wood  shows  the  least 
soil.    Presses  should  never  be  varnished  or 
polished.    Wood  that  has  to  be  constantly 


PLATE  I. — THE  BOTANICAL  PRESS  OPEN  AND  CLOSED. 


THE  BOTANICAL  OUTFIT  37 

handled  is  better  left  with  a  dull  surface. 
Plate  I  shows  the  press  open  and  fastened  up. 

A  still  better  press,  and  one  which  requires 
no  great  skill  in  carpentering  to  manufacture, 
has,  instead  of  solid  boards,  a  lattice-work  of 
ash  slats,  £  inch  thick  and  an  inch  wide.  These 
should  be  laid  at  right  angles  to  one  another 
and  one  or  two  inches  apart  and  should  be  se- 
cured at  the  corners  and  all  intersections  with 
two  or  three  wire  brads,  securely  clinched  and 
preferably  of  brass  which  will  not  rust.  Such 
presses,  to  fit  drying  sheets  of  the  standard  size 
(12  x  18  inches) ,  can  be  bought,  without  straps, 
from  the  Cambridge  Botanical  Supply  Co.  for 
from  60  cents  upward  according  to  size  and  ma- 
terial used.  The  model  which  costs  $1.35  is 
the  most  generally  serviceable. 

12.  Drying-papers  and  Folders. — It  is  neces- 
sary to  keep  a  good  stock  of  these,  for  plants  re- 
quire several  changes  of  paper  before  they  are 
fit  for  mounting,  and  stinginess  in  this  item  is 
fatal.  Botanical  drying-paper  may  be  bought 
from  35  cents  per  quire,  according  to  weight. 
Thick  white  blotting-paper  is  almost  equally 
good  and  costs  about  the  same.  Pads  of  old 


38      WILD  FLOWER  PRESERVATION 

newspapers,  folded  and  cut  to  size,  will  also  do 
if  the  paper  is  without  any  glaze ;  but  they  do 
not  absorb  moisture  so  rapidly  and  if  you  use 
them  you  must  be  particularly  careful  to 
change  driers  frequently. 

You  should  also  have  a  good  supply  of  sheets 
of  newspaper  stock  or  old  newspapers  cut  as 
long  as  your  mounting  sheets  and  twice  as 
wide,  so  that  when  folded  once  they  form 
covers  of  the  same  size  as  the  sheets.  Plants 
to  be  pressed  are  placed  in  these  covers ;  they 
can  then  be  moved  when  changing  driers  with- 
out actually  touching  them  and  without  dis- 
turbing their  position,  which  you  will  probably 
have  been  at  some  pains  to  make  natural  and 
graceful.  Newspaper  stock,  cut  to  size,  costs 
50  to  75  cents  per  ream  at  the  paper-dealer's. 

All  papers  can  be  used  and  dried  an  indefi- 
nite number  of  times. 

13.  Brushes. — You  will  want  a  soft  paint- 
brush, size  2,  to  use  when  arranging  the  plants 
in  the  press,  for  they  must  be  touched  as  little 
as  possible  by  warm  fingers,  and  a  large,  coarse 
brush  an  inch  or  two  across  for  spreading  glue. 

14.  A  small  quantity  of  Cotton-wool. — This 


THE  BOTANICAL  OUTFIT  39 

is  used  in  the  form  of  pads  to  equalize  pressure 
round  knobby  flower-heads  (see  Chapter 
VII). 

15.  Mounting-papers  and  Genus-covers,  or 
Albums. — Some  botanists  mount  their  plants 
in  albums,  and  there  is  something  to  be  said  for 
this  method.  The  card  leaves  are  firm  and  the 
specimens  are  protected  from  shuffling.  It  is, 
however,  impossible  to  arrange  plants  scien- 
tifically in  this  way  for  they  must  be  mounted 
in  the  order  in  which  they  were  found.  Pages 
may  be  allotted  to  various  Genera  and  Fam- 
ilies, but  miscalculations  are  bound  to  occur. 
Plants  ought  to  be  arranged  according  to  their 
Families,  and  if  separate  mounting-sheets  are 
used  this  is  easily  done  for  all  of  one  Family 
can  be  kept  together. 

Professional  botanists  in  America  have, 
after  long  experience,  agreed  on  a  standard 
size  for  mounting  sheets,  111  x  16i  inches,  and 
this  size  will,  on  the  whole,  be  found  most  con- 
venient for  a  variety  of  plants.  The  best 
paper  is  a  good  quality  of  linen  ledger,  weigh- 
ing not  less  than  twenty  pounds  per  ream 
when  cut  to  the  above  size.  This  kind  of  paper 


40      WILD  FLOWER  PRESERVATION 

cannot  be  obtained  from  every  dealer,  but  may 
be  bought  from  those  mentioned  in  section  1  at 
30  cents  per  quire,  $5.00  per  ream  and  upward, 
according  to  weight.  Heavy  white  drawing 
paper  makes  an  excellent,  and  much  cheaper, 
substitute.  The  grades  sold  by  the  Milton 
Bradley  Co.,  Boston,  under  the  trade  names  of 
Bradley 's  White,  Nos.  1  and  2,  Springfield 
White  and  American  White  are  all  good — the 
second  and  fourth  heaviest  and  stiffest  and 
therefore  best.  In  sheets  12  x  18  inches,  which 
can  be  cut  to  size  with  little  waste,  these  papers 
cost  $1.40  to  $2.40  per  ream.  Smaller  quanti- 
ties may  be  bought  at  corresponding  prices 
and  all  grades  should  be  obtainable  of  dealers 
in  school  supplies. 

Genus-covers  are  folders  of  heavy  manila 
wrapping  or  tag  paper,  slightly  larger  than 
the  mounting  sheets.  Their  use  is  explained 
on  p.  148. 

16.  Piece  of  Plate  or  Window  Glass. — On 
this  the  glue  is  spread  when  mounting  and  it 
should  be  about  the  size  of  your  mounting 
sheets.  12  x  16  inches  is  one  of  the  standard 


THE  BOTANICAL  OUTFIT  41 

sizes  of  window  glass  and  will  do  very  well  for 
most  specimens. 

17.  Liquid  Glue. — Glue  is  the  only  mountant 
strong  and  lasting  enough  to  be  of  much  use  in 
holding  specimens  permanently  in  place. 

18.  Gummed  Paper  or  Surgeon's  Silk  Isin- 
glass Plaster. — When  a  large  number  of  plants 
or  several  similar  ones  have  been  identified,  it 
is  wise  to  attach  name-tickets  to  their  stems 
lest  the  names  should  be  forgotten  or  confused 
before  mounting.    They  can  be  easily  affixed 
with  strips  of  gummed  paper  and  as  easily  re- 
moved.    Some  sort  of  adhesive  strips  should 
form  part  of  every  outfit,  for  they  are  useful  in 
mounting.     (See  Chapter  VIII.) 

Gummed  paper  can  be  bought  in  sheets 
17  x  22  inches  for  from  10  to  15  cents  per  sheet 
and  also  comes  in  strips  and  rolls.  A  better 
material  for  use  in  mounting  plants,  however, 
is  silk  isinglass  plaster  which  can  be  bought  of 
any  druggist,  in  rolls  5  or  7  inches  wide  and  a 
yard  long,  for  from  60  to  75  cents.  It  is  so 
much  stronger  and  more  adhesive  than  ordi- 
nary gummed  paper  that  it  can  be  used  in 


42      WILD  FLOWER  PRESERVATION 

much  smaller  pieces;  the  expense  is  therefore 
not  excessive  and  the  effect  neater. 

Some  botanists  use  nothing  but  adhesive 
strips  in  securing  their  specimens.  It  is  not 
the  best  method,  for  the  plants  are  not  so  well 
protected.  Every  leaf  and  tendril  must  be 
fastened  down  or  the  necessary  moving  of  the 
mounts  may  break  them  off.  The  strip 
method,  however,  has  certain  advantages  for 
collectors  who  keep  their  plants  in  albums  as 
plants  secured  in  this  way  may  be  moved  to 
larger  albums  at  any  time. 

19.  Labels. — The  name  of  each  plant  should 
be  written  on  the  bottom  right-hand  corner  of 
the  mount.  This  may  be  done  upon  the  paper 
itself,  or  on  a  label  with  a  printed  heading, 
pasted  on.  Apply  the  paste  only  to  the  edges : 
this  keeps  the  corners  of  the  mounting-sheets 
from  curling  up,  as  they  will  do  if  the  whole 
surface  of  the  label  is  pasted  over.  The  fol- 
lowing is  a  simple  form  of  label  and  500  of 
them  would  cost  about  75  cents  at  a  good 
printer's. 


THE  BOTANICAL  OUTFIT  43 


HERBARIUM  OF  JOHN  BROWN. 


Collected  by 


In  addition  to  the  printed  matter  you  should 
write  on  the  label  the  name  of  the  plant  con- 
cerned, the  sort  of  situation  in  which  it  grew 
— wood,  field  or  swamp — ,  the  place  and  date  of 
collection  and  the  name  of  the  collector,  if 
other  than  yourself,  or  your  own  initials. 
Thus,  the  label  shown  above,  filled  out,  would 
read : — 


HERBARIUM  OF  JOHN  BROWN. 

Hepatica  triloba  Chaix 

Liverleaf 
Open  woods, 

Concord,  Mass.,  April  20,  1912 
Collected  by  J.  B. 


To  this  may  be  added,  if  desired,  the  name 
of  the  family  to  which  the  plant  belongs.  It  is 
not  a  bad  plan  to  number  each  specimen  and  to 


44      WILD  FLOWER  PRESERVATION 

enter  any  notes  you  may  have  in  regard  to  it 
in  your  note-book  under  the  same  number. 
The  number  of  the  page  in  your  flora  on  which 
the  plant  is  described  may  also  be  entered  on 
the  label.  This  furnishes  a  quick  method  of 
referring  one  to  the  other,  very  convenient 
when  identifying  two  similar  species  or  when 
questions  are  raised  by  fellow  naturalists  as  to 
the  correctness  of  your  identification. 

20.  Pair  of  Forceps. — These  are  useful  in 
mounting  (See  Chapter  VIII)   and  in  han- 
dling small  parts  of  plants  at  all  times.     They 
can  be  bought  of  instrument  dealers  at  20  cents 
per  pair. 

21.  Case   or  Boxes   for  Storing  Mounted 
Plants. — When  separate  mounts  are  used  they 
must  be  stored  where  there  is  no  likelihood  of 
dust  or  movement.    The  ideal  case  for  an  herb- 
arium consists  of  tiers  of  large  pigeon-holes, 
12x17x5  or  6  inches,  closed  in  front  by  a 
tightly  fitting  door.     Such  a  case  is,  however, 
expensive.    A  very  satisfactory  substitute,  es- 
pecially for  small  collections,  is  found  in  stout 
card-board  boxes,  12x17x4  inches  in  inside 
dimensions,  covered  with  book-cloth  and  with 


THE  BOTANICAL  OUTFIT  45 

a  drop  front  which  allows  you  to  draw  out  the 
specimens  when  wanted  instead  of  lifting  them 
out,  and  to  take  out  any  particular  plant  you 
may  wish  to  examine  without  disturbing  the 
rest.  Such  boxes,  holding  about  100  mounted 
specimens,  may  be  bought  ready-made  from  the 
Cambridge  Botanical  Supply  Co.  for  80  cents 
each.  Very  serviceable  ones  may  be  made  at 
home  from  the  folding  boxes  in  which  suits  are 
sent  out  by  clothing  stores.  These  are  about 
the  right  width  and  height;  if  too  long,  they 
can  be  cut  down.  Strengthen  the  corners  by 
gluing  on  strips  of  book-cloth  or  the  stout  cloth 
used  for  lining  trunks  and  dress-suit  cases,  cut 
down  through  the  corners  at  one  end  for  the 
drop  front  (the  cover,  when  on,  will  hold  it  in 
place),  put  on  an  extra  strip  of  cloth  to  rein- 
force the  hinge,  and  you  have  a  box  which  will 
last  a  considerable  time  if  not  roughly  handled. 

Name-cards  should  be  pasted  on  the  end  of 
each  box  to  show  what  it  contains.  New  ones 
will  have  to  be  written  and  pasted  on  from  time 
to  time,  for  a  growing  collection  requires  occa- 
sional rearrangement. 

Specimens    may,    of    course,    be    kept    in 


46      WILD  FLOWER  PRESERVATION 

drawers,  but  this  is  an  awkward  method  if  you 
have  more  than  a  very  few,  as  it  necessitates 
lifting  out  a  whole  pile  of  specimens  every  time 
you  want  to  get  at  a  particular  one. 

22.  Moth-balls. — These  may  be  bought  for 
10  cents  per  Ib.  at  a  druggist's,  and  one  ball 
should  be  placed  in  each  box,  to  prevent  insects 
destroying  the  plants.  No  one  who  values  a 
dainty  collection  will  omit  this  item.  I  once 
saw  an  Ox-eye  Daisy  which  had  looked  lovely 
when  mounted,  a  complete  wreck  three  months 
later.  The  disc  was  dropping  to  pieces,  and 
tiny  insects  were  scuttling  away  in  all  direc- 
tions as  if  to  hide  their  diminished  heads  from 
the  light  which  was  revealing  their  evil  deeds ! 

The  list  below  gives  a  cheaper  and  smaller 
outfit  which  will  be  useful  to  those  who  do  not 
want  a  scientifically  arranged  collection. 

1.  Basket. 

2.  Scissors. 

3.  Old  Tablespoon. 

4.  Supply  of  old  Newspapers. 

5.  Mathews's  Field  Book,  $2.00;  or  Dana's 

How    to   know    the    Wild   Flowers, 
$2.00. 


THE  BOTANICAL  OUTFIT  47 

6.  Some  simple  book  on  Plant  Study  (see 

p.  65). 

7.  Magnifying-glass. 

8.  Penknife. 

9.  Dissecting  Needles. 

10.  Gummed    Paper    or    Silk    Surgeon's 

Plaster. 

11.  Home-made  Press. 

12.  Drying-paper  and  Folders. 

13.  Small  soft  Paint  Brush. 

14.  Cotton-wool  or  "Wadding. 

15.  Album. 

16.  Moth-balls.     (To  be  kept  in  the  box  or 

drawer  where  the  Album  is  stored.) 


A  NATURE 
NOTE-BOOK 


'Flowers  are  the  love  songs — 
.  .  .  of  God's  green  world." 

COULSON  KERNAHAN. 


"The  old  woods — how  I  have  loved  it.  The  sweetest 
memories  of  life  are  entwined  back  there  among  the 
grasses  and  the  grapevines  and  the  oaks  and  beeches.  Its 
beauty  and  silence  and  the  wild  life  in  it  were  the  un- 
solved mystery  of  boyhood,  and  its  deeper  study  in  later 
years  has  been  a  very  great  delight  and  inspiration.  I 
think  I  gain,  by  familiarity  with  its  life,  something  of  its 
vitality,  at  least  in  spirit.  The  long  vistas  of  the  great 
trees,  the  sunshine  mottling  the  leaves  and  filling  the  open 
spaces  beneath  with  beautiful  light,  the  immeasurable 
canopy  and  the  shade,  the  birds  singing  their  loves  and 
their  joys,  the  squirrels  frisking  among  the  acorns,  and 
the  atmosphere  of  age  which  pervades  it,  all  have  filled 
my  mind  with  never-to-be-forgotten  impressions  of  the 
beauty  and  loveliness  of  the  old  woods,  and  a  memory 
abides  that  is  a  perpetual  dream. ' ' 

PAUL  GRISWOLD  HUSTON,  Around  an  Old  Homestead. 


CHAPTER  III 
A  NATURE  NOTE-BOOK 

A  necessity  to  students — Records  of  plant  structure — 
Locality  and  date  of  "finds" — Your  own  observa- 
tions— Drawings  of  plants — 'Various  kinds  of  Nature 
Notes — Record  of  the  months — Notes  a  reflection  of 
yourself — The  poetry  of  flowers. 

I  CAN  imagine  that  some  students  may  ask  why 
the  Nature  Note-book — one  item  in  the  botani- 
cal outfit — should  have  a  chapter  to  itself. 

My  reply  is — because  it  is  the  most  impor- 
tant item  in  that  outfit;  more  important  than 
your  herbarium,  if  you  mean  to  have  one,  and 
in  a  sense  even  more  important  than  your  Flora 
and  other  botanical  works. 

This  Note-book  is  to  be  the  record  of  the 
plants  you  find.  It  will  contain  not  only  the 
brief  details  of  each  plant  given  in  the  Flora, 
but  the  accumulated  information  about  each 
that  you  gather  from  time  to  time  from  other 
books  and  magazines,  and  more  important  still, 

51 


52      WILD  FLOWER  PRESERVATION 

it  should  receive  the  records  of  your  own  ob- 
servations. 

A  Nature  Note-book  is  a  necessity  to  the 
earnest  student,  and  by  that  I  do  not  neces- 
sarily mean  the  leisured  student.  Greater  leis- 
ure will  of  course  mean  fuller  notes,  but  much 
may  be  done  in  odd  minutes.  Unless  you  have 
a  most  remarkable  memory,  some  kind  of  rec- 
ord must  be  kept  or  you  will  lose  much  of  all 
that  you  gain. 

Pocket  note-books  are  of  little  use.  Their 
pages  are  narrow  and  few  and  so  quickly  filled 
that,  instead  of  one  or  two  books,  you  soon  have 
a  collection  of  a  dozen  or  more  which  makes 
reference  an  irritating  task.  It  is  far  better  to 
have  a  thick  exercise-book  with  stout  card — or 
cloth-board  covers.  This  will  not  cost  more 
than  15  to  25  cents,  and  it  will  wear  well,  con- 
tain at  least  a  hundred  records,  and  the  pages 
will  be  far  more  comfortable  to  write  upon  than 
niggling  little  ones  measuring  2  by  4  in.  You 
will  require  a  page  or  more  for  the  record  of 
each  plant,  according  to  the  amount  of  leisure 
you  possess.  A  loose-leaf  note-book  is  even 
better  since  it  will  allow  you  to  keep  together 


A  NATURE  NOTE-BOOK  53 

all  your  notes  on  one  plant,  if  they  overflow 
the  space  you  originally  provided  for  them. 

Suppose  you  have  returned  from  a  walk  with 
half  a  dozen  plants  in  your  collecting-case. 
You  will  first  of  all  examine  and  identify  these 
by  your  Flora,  and  then  will  come  the  time  for 
making  notes. 

Write  the  English  name  of  the  plant  at  the 
top  of  the  page  (and  Latin  also,  if  desired)  and 
in  addition  the  Family  to  which  it  belongs. 
The  locality  and  the  date  should  follow,  with 
any  details  concerning  the  soil,  environment, 
or  the  exact  nook  if  the  plant  is  at  all  uncom- 
mon. Chapter  IV,  on  "How  to  Study  Plant 
Life,"  will  give  you  hints  on  their  proper  ex- 
amination, and  you  will  also  find  there  a  list 
of  signs  and  abbreviations  that  will  greatly 
reduce  the  labor  of  making  notes.  The  usual 
order  in  which  the  parts  of  a  plant  are  de- 
scribed in  a  Flora  is  as  follows :  Eoot,  stem, 
leaves,  flowers,  fruit  and  seed.  The  same 
order  should  be  maintained  in  the  Nature  Note- 
book. Hairs,  bracts,  thorns,  stipules  and  other 
appendages  also  receive  notice  when  present. 
It  is  not  always  necessary  to  abbreviate  the 


54      WILD  FLOWER  PRESERVATION 

whole  description  to  be  found  in  the  Flora,  but 
the  main  points  should  be  recorded.  After- 
wards you  will  add  any  abbreviated  extracts 
from  other  books  you  may  have,  dealing  with 
the  plant  under  observation. 

If  you  should  have  any  illustration  or  maga- 
zine article  describing  the  plant,  the  cutting 
should  be  neatly  fastened  into  the  book ;  or  if 
you  are  an  expert  photographer  and  have  a 
print  of  the  plant  or  its  locality,  this  will  add 
still  further  interest  to  your  Nature  Notes. 

A  Nature  Note-book  should  also  contain 
rough  sketches  of  the  plants  or  some  of  their 
more  important  and  characteristic  parts.  You 
may  not  be  an  artist,  but  practice  will  soon 
help  you  to  do  this  far  more  quickly  and  easily 
than  you  would  suppose  possible.  The 
sketches  may  be  of  the  roughest  description, 
but  this  will  not  matter.  If  you  are  an  adept 
at  rapid  sketching  you  will  soon  draw  in  the 
whole  plant  with  enlargements  at  its  side  of 
any  special  structural  details  you  may  wish  to 
remember.  If  less  practiced  in  this  kind  of 
work,  you  may  content  yourself  with  drawing 
only  parts  of  the  plant — possibly  an  example 


A  NATURE  NOTE-BOOK  55 

each  of  the  root,  leaves,  flowers,  fruit  and  seed. 
If  you  have  never  done  any  drawing  at  all, 
take  what  flat  organs  the  plant  possesses,  place 
them  face  downwards  upon  the  page  and  fol- 
low their  outline  with  a  pencil.  Leaves,  some 
seed-vessels,  and  many  sepals  and  petals  may 
be  treated  in  this  manner.  After  lifting  up 
the  " model"  the  veining,  spots,  or  other  mark- 
ings can  be  added  to  the  drawing  without  much 
trouble.  Stamens  and  pistils  are  usually  very 
simple  to  draw,  and  you  will  soon  get  into  the 
way  of  sketching  flowers  whose  petals  are 
united  and  irregularly  shaped.  The  drawing 
may  be  colored  with  chalks  or  water-color  paint 
if  desired,  but  most  students  will  be  satisfied 
with  a  pencil  outline  and  a  small  amount  of 
"  shading." 

Those  who  prefer  to  make  their  sketches 
upon  proper  drawing-  or  painting-paper  can 
easily  paste  these  into  the  Note-book. 

But  whatever  else  your  Nature  Note-book 
does  or  does  not  contain,  it  must  include  the 
records  of  your  own  observations.  The  facts 
that  a  student  discovers  for  himself  are  of  the 
greatest  value.  You  will  find  all  kinds  of  de- 


56      WILD  FLOWER  PRESERVATION 

tails  omitted  by  a  Flora  that  will  be  of  inter- 
est to  yourself,  for  such  books  mainly  under- 
take to  give  sufficient  information  to  identify 
plants.  You  may  notice  hairs  in  the  throat 
of  a  flower  or  on  the  stems  or  calyces,  peculiari- 
ties of  growth  and  structure,  and  many  curious 
developments.  Then,  too,  you  should  leave 
plenty  of  space  for  notes  that  may  be  inserted 
later  about  the  same  species.  For  example — 
suppose  you  make  notes  about  a  Jewelweed 
you  have  found  flowering  in  summertime. 
Later  in  the  year  you  will  find  specimens  of 
the  plant  in  fruit,  and  you  will  like  to  have 
some  record  of  this,  and  perhaps  a  small 
sketch.  Then  when  the  winter  is  over  and  the 
bare  earth  has  become  green  with  innumerable 
seedlings,  you  will  find  in  wet  ground  by 
springs  and  along  brooks  tiny  plants  bearing 
two  nearly  round,  thick  leaves  very  unlike 
those  of  the  plant  previously  recorded.  But 
other  leaves  of  later  growth  show  that  the  tiny 
things  are  seedling  Jewelweeds.  A  seedling's 
first  leaves  are  often  strangely  unlike  those 
typical  of  the  plant.  Sometimes  the  second 
pair  becomes  at  once  very  like  the  true  leaves, 


A  NATURE  NOTE-BOOK  57 

but  quite  as  often  the  development  is  gradual 
and  each  fresh  pair  put  forth  becomes  more 
like  the  typical  leaf  than  the  last.  The  Note- 
book should  receive  some  record  of  the  seedling 
stage,  and  if  possible  a  sketch.  Or  you  may 
prefer  to  preserve  the  seedling  and  mount  it 
in  your  book. 

I  quite  expect  that  some  students  may  be 
groaning  by  now!  "We  are  intensely  inter- 
ested in  plant  lif e, "  they  will  say,  "but  we  have 
other  duties  in  life  beside  the  keeping  of  a  Na- 
ture Note-book.  How  are  we  to  find  time  for 
all  these  notes  and  sketches?  Identification 
often  takes  a  beginner  a  long  time,  and  we 
learn  that  the  preservation  of  plants  demands 
care  and  patience.  If  we  spend  time  on  notes 
we  shall  make  such  slow  progress!'7 

Ah,  that  is  just  where  you  make  such  a  mis- 
take. Tour  great  idea  of  botanical  knowledge 
is  knowing  the  names  of  as  many  plants  as  pos- 
sible, and  reading  up  the  details  of  their  struc- 
ture— and  forgetting  these  details  almost  as 
quickly ;  though  you  will  not  own  to  this  part 
of  the  story! 

Now  let  me  advise  you.    When  you  bring 


58      WILD  FLOWER  PRESERVATION 

large  bunches  of  flowers  back  from  your 
rambles,  do  not  attempt  to  identify,  to  pre- 
serve, or  to  make  notes  of  them  all,  or  even  of 
one  quarter  of  them.  Take  the  rarest  in  the 
bunch,  two,  or  at  most  three  plants  in  a  day, 
and  study  these  properly.  Then  if  time  per- 
mits of  your  examining  others  at  a  later  hour, 
do  so,  but  preserve  fresh  examples  some  other 
day,  as  plants  that  have  stood  long  in  water  are 
unsuitable  for  the  press.  Learn  to  study  a 
few  plants  thoroughly.  Do  not  be  in  a  hurry 
to  know  all  at  once. 

A  Nature  Note-book  may  contain  chatty 
memoranda  of  scenery,  picnic  and  rambling 
party  episodes,  and  any  other  details  that  help 
to  make  a  book  intensely  interesting  and  alive. 
Such  records  vary  as  infinitely  as  their  writers. 
It  rests  with  yourself  as  to  the  kind  your  own 
shall  be.  Whatever  they  are  they  will  be  a  re- 
flection of  yourself.  You  will  be  unable  to 
prevent  this. 

If  you  are  sternly  matter-of-fact  the  book 
will  be  a  practical,  business-like  record  of 
names  and  places  and  dates,  with  short,  crisp 
details  of  floral  structure — no  more,  no  less. 


A  NATURE  NOTE-BOOK  59 

Everything  that  should  be  there  will  be  there, 
but  there  will  be  no  suggestion  of  what  you 
would  call  " padding."  Neat  little  drawings 
may  be  scattered  about  and  short  extracts  and 
magazine  cuttings  will  be  carefully  pasted  in, 
but  all  will  be  as  practical  as  a  catalogue  of 
farm  implements.  As  for  the  book  itself,  this 
will  be  bound  in  some  dark,  useful  color  (how 
you  like  that  phrase,  "some  dark,  useful 
color7'!),  that  will  not  show  soil  and  wear. 

If,  on  the  other  hand,  you  are  at  heart  a  poet 
or  an  artist  you  will  not  be  able  to  keep  the 
fact  out  of  such  a  book  as  this.  Perhaps  even 
the  binding  will  be  beautiful.  You  will  choose 
some  glorious,  glowing  color,  some  rich,  soft 
cardinal  or  blue  such  as  the  Pre-Raphaelite 
painters  loved,  and  so  make  your  Nature  Note- 
book all  lovely  within  and  without.  As  for 
the  notes  themselves,  they  will  become  a  diary 
of  the  months,  a  record  of  the  beauty  you  have 
seen  and  reveled  in.  They  will  include  some- 
thing beyond  structural  details,  sketches  and 
cuttings  from  magazines,  for  the  pages  will  be 
scattered  over  with  photographs,  showing  not 
only  the  chief  beauties  of  the  places  you  have 


60      WILD  FLOWER  PRESERVATION 

seen  but  the  lovely  little  nooks  and  corners 
where  wind-flowers  nestle  and  violets  and  ferns 
and  other  shy  things  hide.  Or  there  may  be 
pictures  of  wayside  resting-places  where  you 
halted  to  examine  your  "finds,"  and  perhaps 
here  and  there  a  lively  picnic  group.  Without 
trespassing  on  ground  that  rightly  belongs  to 
the  Diary,  your  records  will  be  intensely  hu- 
man. There  will  be  references  to  the  places 
visited,  the  scenery,  the  weather,  the  route 
taken,  the  rambling  party,  and  the  friendships 
formed  among  the  flowers. 

You  will  find  that  the  books  you  read  are 
scattered  over  with  references  to  flowers,  to 
outdoor  life  and  color  effects — references 
which  you  had  passed  over  as  mere  fanciful 
descriptions,  until  your  eyes  were  opened  to 
the  glory  of  their  reality.  Some  of  these  word- 
pictures  will  so  exactly  describe  the  haunts 
you  love  that  you  will  copy  them  into  your 
Note-book,  with  many  a  poem  in  verse  as  well. 

As  you  wander  in  the  fields,  by  the  stream- 
banks,  or  upon  the  wide  stretches  of  moor- 
land, poetry  will  more  and  more  weave  itself 
into  your  thoughts,  and  you  will  go  back  to 


A  NATURE  NOTE-BOOK  61 

poetry  to  find  the  pages  scattered  over  with 
flowers. 

The  capacity  to  enjoy  color  and  the  mys- 
terious beauty  of  changing  light  increases  as 
the  months  go  by.  You  will  not  only  note 
the  color  of  one  tiny  Harebell  but  your  Na- 
ture Notes  will  be  so  written  that  whenever  you 
read  them  you  will  see  again  the  open  hillside 
or  the  steep  and  rocky  bank,  blue  with  the 
most  elusive  blue  in  Nature.  You  will  see  the 
fragile  flowers  bending  to  the  sweeping  wind 
and  swinging  in  the  gentle  breezes  until  again 
you  almost  hold  your  breath  to  catch  their 
magic  tinkle.  You  never  did  quite  catch  the 
sound,  did  you?  The  world  was  never  quite 
still  enough;  but  as  you  held  the  lovely  bells 
and  peeped  into  their  wonderful  chalice  depths, 
surely  the  music  of  Browning's  poetry  rang  in 
your  ears — 

"And  her  eyes  are  dark  and  humid  like  the  depth  on 

depth  of  lustre 
Hidi'theharehell." 

And  you  will  never  see  Harebells  again  with- 
out remembering  how  Browning  saw  them  and 
set  his  thoughts  to  music. 


HOW- 
TO  STUDY 
PLANT  LIFE 


"What !  dull,  when  you  do  not  know  what  gives  its  love- 
liness of  form  to  the  lily,  its  depth  of  colour  to  the  violet, 
its  fragrance  to  the  rose ;  .  .  .  when  earth,  air,  and  water 
are  all  alike  mysteries  to  you,  .  .  .  while  all  the  time 
Nature  is  inviting  you  to  talk  earnestly  with  her !  ...  Go 
away,  man;  learn  something,  do  something,  understand 
something,  and  let  me  hear  no  more  of  your  dullness. ' ' 

SIR  ARTHUR  HELPS. 


HYMN  TO  THE  FLOWERS 

"  'Neath  cloistered  boughs,  each  floral  bell  that  swingeth 

And  tolls  its  perfume  on  the  passing  air, 
Makes  Sabbath  in  the  fields,  and  ever  ringeth 
A  call  to  prayer. 

Your  voiceless  lips,  0  Flowers,  are  living  preachers, 

Each  cup  a  pulpit,  and  each  leaf  a  book, 
Supplying  to  my  fancy  numerous  teachers 
From  loneliest  nook. 

Were  I,  0  God,  in  churchless  lands  remaining, 

Far  from  all  voice  of  teachers  or  divines ; 
My  soul  would  find,  in  Flowers  of  Thy  ordaining, 
Priests,  sermons,  shrines ! ' ' 

HORACE  SMITH. 


CHAPTER  IV 

HOW  TO  STUDY  PLANT  LIFE 

"How  can  I  study  plant  life?" — Confusing  number  of 
books  on  the  subject — A  simple  beginning — Best  way 
of  learning  meanings  of  technical  terms — A  first  les- 
son in  plant  study — Tall  Buttercup — Floral  mechan- 
ism of  Kobin's  Plantain — List  of  abbreviations  used 
in  notes — Useful  books  for  further  study — Attempt- 
ing too  much — The  botanical  bore — The  interesting 
botanist — The  use  of  English  names. 

1  'How  am  I  to  study  plant  life*"  "What 
books  should  I  buy?"  "How  may  I  learn 
something  beyond  the  names  of  the  plants  I 
find?" 

These  are  the  questions  that  every  would-be 
botanist  asks,  and  years  ago  it  would  have  been 
easier  to  reply,  as  books  suitable  for  amateurs 
were  few  and  far  between.  Nowadays  the 
market  is  flooded  with  botanical  works  of  all 
kinds,  from  elaborate  and  expensive  Floras  to 
the  chatty  little  "guides"  that  go  so  easily  into 
one's  pocket.  There  are  books  on  the  haunts 

65 


66      WILD  FLOWER  PRESERVATION 

of  flowers,  their  structural  development  and 
their  relation  to  the  insect  world;  books  on 
poisonous  and  carnivorous  plants,  and  many 
treatises  on  the  geological  antiquity,  geograph- 
ical range,  and  general  life-history  of 
plants.  Every  year  fresh  wonders  are  dis- 
covered, more  questions  are  answered,  and  yet 
more  are  being  asked.  But  in  spite  of  the 
vastness  of  the  subject  and  the  large  amount 
of  literature  dealing  with  it,  the  student  need 
not  be  discouraged.  His  chief  difficulty  will 
be  to  find  a  single  book,  or  two  or  three,  which 
will  give  him  just  the  information  he  wants. 

The  best  plan  is  to  begin  very  simply.  If 
you  .do  not  intend  to  preserve  your  " finds" 
you  need  only  buy  two  books,  a  note-book, 
penknife,  and  magnifying-glass,  for  most 
people  already  possess  the  remaining  requisites 
(a  basket,  pair  of  scissors,  trowel,  old  news- 
papers, needles  and  pencil)  mentioned  in  a 
former  chapter  on  "The  Botanical  Outfit." 
One  of  the  two  books  should  be  a  well  illus- 
trated Flora  (see  p.  29),  and  the  other  some 
simple  work  on  plant  study. 

Neltje      Blanchan's      Nature's      Garden 


HOW  TO  STUDY  PLANT  LIFE        67 

(Doubleday,  Page  &  Co.,  New  York,  $3.00) 
will  probably  furnish  more  than  any  other 
single  book  of  what  you  will  want  to  know 
about  our  common  flowers — their  fertilization 
and  the  ways  in  which  insects  assist  in  it,  and 
the  devices  by  means  of  which  they  hold  their 
own  in  the  struggle  for  existence.  The  book 
contains  illustrations,  from  photographs,  of 
about  125  species,  nearly  half  of  them  colored, 
and  brief  descriptions  of  many  more;  and  it 
may  be  used,  to  some  extent,  as  a  flora,  since 
the  plants  are  arranged  in  it  according  to  color 
and  time  of  flowering. 

If  you  intend  to  preserve  specimens  of  the 
plants  you  find  you  will  need  a  botanical  press 
and  a  few  other  things  which  are  fully  dis- 
cussed and  explained  in  Chapter  II.  I 
strongly  advise  all  students  to  form  such  a 
collection  of  plants.  It  makes  a  lovely  me- 
mento of  the  years,  especially  of  holiday  times, 
and  though  the  work  of  preservation  requires 
care  and  an  average  amount  of  patience,  it 
is  quite  simple  and  intensely  interesting. 
Perhaps  the  strongest  argument  in  favor  of 
the  herbarium  is  its  educational  and  artistic 


68      WILD  FLOWER  PRESERVATION 

value  to  yourself  and  your  friends.  If  you 
preserve  your  plants  you  have  something  to 
show  for  your  study,  something  tangible  and 
delightful,  something  which  will  be  of  lasting 
value  to  yourself  and  at  once  arouse  interest 
in  other  people.  No  photograph  or  colored 
plate,  however  lovely,  can  ever  equal  the  in- 
terest and  value  of  a  real  plant  naturally 
and  carefully  preserved.  But  you  must  re- 
member that  plant  preservation  is  an  Art. 
For  this  reason  I  am  giving  full  details  of  the 
process  in  the  two  chapters  on  Pressing  and 
Mounting  Plants.  If  you  carry  out  the  in- 
structions you  will  find  that  comparatively  few 
of  your  flowers  will  fade  or  seriously  change 
color. 

To  return  to  the  general  study  of  plant  life — 
there  are  a  few  technical  terms  that  confront 
the  student  in  the  simplest  books,  so  that  a 
little  time  should  be  given  to  the  study  of  such 
words  as  sepals,  petals,  stamens,  pistil  and 
pollen.  You  will  find  them  fully  explained  in 
the  illustrated  Glossary  (Chapter  IX  of  the 
present  work) . 

If  you  are  ignorant  of  the  names  given  to 


HOW  TO  STUDY  PLANT  LIFE       69 

most  plant  organs,  take  some  well-known 
flower  and  study  it  with  the  help  of  this  Glos- 
sary. You  will  find  yourself  rapidly  becoming 
familiar  with  the  chief  botanical  terms;  but 
you  must  have  the  living  plant  in  your  hand  or 
your  progress  will  be  slow;  you  must  have  an 
actual  example  before  you  or  the  terms  and 
their  explanations  will  be  mere  dry  lists  with 
no  more  romance  in  them  than  the  dictionary 
holds  for  those  uninterested  in  philology. 

FIRST  LESSONS  IN  PLANT  STUDY 
EXERCISE  I. 

Having  bought  your  small  stock-in-trade,  go 
into  the  fields  and  uproot  two  or  three  Tall 
Buttercups.  You  may  distinguish  these  from 
all  similar  species  by  their  leaves.  They  are 
cut  into  three  main  divisions,  which  are  again 
variously  cleft,  and  none  of  these  divisions  has 
any  stalk.  All  our  other  buttercups  with  di- 
vided leaves  have  at  least  one  of  the  parts 
stalked.  Bring  the  plants  home  and  compare 
them  with  Plate  II.  At  the  base  you  have  the 
fibrous  root,  next  the  stem  surrounded  by  radi- 
cal or  root-leaves.  Higher  up,  and  springing 


70      WILD  FLOWER  PRESERVATION 

from  the  stem,  are  the  cauline  or  stem-leaves, 
generally  simpler  than  those  that  spring  di- 
rectly from  the  root.  Higher  still  are  the 
flowers,  and  on  examining  one  of  these  you  will 
find  five  little  green  leaves  called  sepals  (col- 
lectively the  calyx),  and  five  large  golden 
petals  (collectively  the  corolla).  Within  this 
corolla  are  clusters  of  golden  threads  called 
stamens,  and  in  the  center  a  number  of  green- 
ish-yellow carpels  (collectively  the  pistil),  each 
containing  the  seed  of  a  future  plant. 

EXERCISE  II. 

After  carefully  examining  the  plants,  make 
a  drawing  of  one  in  your  Nature  Note-book, 
which  should  be  bound  in  cloth  and  of  exercise- 
book  shape.  Never  mind  how  badly  you  draw 
or  how  humble  the  result — draw  the  plant  and 
mark  its  parts  from  memory  exactly  as  they 
are  noted  in  Plate  II.  Shade  the  sepals  to  dis- 
tinguish these  from  the  corolla,  or  roughly  in- 
dicate the  coloring  of  the  whole  plant  with  col- 
ored chalks.  The  drawing  is  intended  to  be 
more  a  diagram  than  a  picture,  so  that  the 
plant  should  be  posed  to  show  structural  de- 


PLATE  II. — TALL  BUTTERCUP. 


HOW  TO  STUDY  PLANT  LIFE       71 

tails  rather  than  graceful  lines  and  good  pic- 
torial composition. 

EXERCISE  III. 

Take  a  flower  to  pieces  and  draw  an  example 
of  each  part,  or  whorl.  The  parts  should  be 
separated  with  the  thumb  and  the  blade  of  a 
sharp  penknife. 

EXERCISE  IV. 

Look  up  Tall  Buttercup  in  your  Flora  and 
study  its  full  description  with  the  plant  in  your 
hand.  If  you  are  using  Ma  thews 's  Field  Book 
you  will  find  its  description  on  p.  144. 

EXERCISE  V. 

Write  (immediately  below  your  rough 
sketches  of  the  plant)  the  chief  items  of  inter- 
est connected  with  it.  Such  an  entry  might 
run  as  follows : — "Tall  Buttercup,  Ranunculus 
acris — Family  Eanunculacese.  (Here  would 
follow  the  date  and  place  of  finding.)  Fibrous 
root;  erect,  unfurrowed  stem;  some  leaves 
springing  from  the  root,  others  from  the  stem ; 
lower  leaves  three-lobed,  each  lobe  again  di- 
vided ;  upper  leaves  generally  simpler ;  flowers 


72      WILD  FLOWER  PRESERVATION 

of  regular  shape,  5  spreading  green  sepals,  5 
large  yellow  petals,  many  stamens  and  car- 
pels." 

You  would  add  to  the  above  paragraph  any- 
thing further  you  had  learned  from  Nature's 
Garden  about  this  particular  plant  or  the  char- 
acteristics of  its  Family. 

EXERCISE  VI. 

If  you  wish  to  preserve  your  specimens  the 
remaining  plants  should  now  be  pressed.  Full 
directions  for  doing  this  are  given  in  Chapter 
VII.  Chapter  II,  on  ' '  The  Botanical  Outfit, ' ' 
will  tell  you  all  you  will  need  in  the  way  of  a 
press  and  drying-sheets. 

So  far  for  your  first  lesson  in  plant  study. 
You  must  now  take  special  notice  of  Butter- 
cups whenever  you  see  any.  You  will  soon 
discover  slight  differences  between  those  you 
have  examined  and  others  that  appear  to  be 
very  similar  at  first  sight.  You  may  find,  usu- 
ally in  wet  or  moist  shady  places,  a  buttercup 
which  has  the  divisions  or  segments  of  the  root- 
leaves  both  longer  and  broader  than  in  your 
first  plant  and  at  least  the  central  one  stalked. 


HOW  TO  STUDY  PLANT  LIFE       73 

Also,  the  stems  are  often  weak  and  lie  nearly 
flat  along  the  ground,  and  if  you  look  at  the 
center  of  the  flower  through  your  magnifying- 
glass  you  will  see  that  each  carpel  is  tipped 
with  a  long,  nearly  straight  spur  or  point, 
whereas  those  of  your  first  plant  had  short, 
hooked  points.  This  is  the  Swamp  Buttercup, 
Ranunculus  septentrionalis.  If  you  live  in 
New  England,  you  will  probably  find  also  the 
Bulbous  Buttercup  with  furrowed  flower- 
stalks,  thick,  bulb-like  root  and  radical  leaves 
with  shorter,  broader  segments  than  in  either 
of  the  others.  Further  west  may  be  found  the 
Early  Buttercup,  Ranunculus  hispidus,  with 
root-leaves  similar  to  the  last,  though  less  di- 
vided, but  with  only  fibrous  roots  and  with  nar- 
rower, paler  yellow  petals. 

When  you  succeed  in  finding  any  two  of 
these  plants,  Lessons  II  and  III  should  be  the 
study  of  Bulbous  or  Early  and  Swamp  Butter- 
cups, worked  out  in  six  exercises  each,  after  the 
style  of  Lesson  I. 

You  will  find  the  Tall  Buttercups  changing 
as  the  days  and  weeks  go  by.  One  by  one  they 
shed  sepals,  petals,  and  stamens,  and  the  car- 


74     WILD  FLOWER  PRESERVATION 

pels  gradually  ripen  and  enlarge  until  at  last 
these  too  are  dispersed,  and  each  little  seed 
goes  off  to  start  life  on  its  own  account.  You 
should  secure  a  cluster  of  ripening  carpels  and 
make  a  separate  sketch  of  these  and  also  of  a 
single  carpel  as  it  looks  when  magnified.  This 
sketch  may  come  at  the  side  of  the  former 
drawing.  Gather  and  sketch  the  fruit  of  the 
two  other  species  so  that  you  may  compare 
them  with  each  other  and  know  your  plants 
well  in  every  stage  of  their  existence. 

The  prettily  named  Robin's  Plantain  goes  so 
naturally  with  Buttercups  that  it  shall  be  the 
subject  of  study  for 

LESSON  IV 

Uproot  two  or  three  plants  in  good  flower; 
shake  the  earth  free  from  the  roots  and  bring 
all  home  for  examination. 

EXERCISE  I. 

Here  we  have  fibrous  roots  again  (see  Plate 
III,  Fig.  1).  Runners  are  also  given  off, 
which  root  and  form  fresh  plants,  and  these 
produce,  in  the  fall,  small  rosettes  of  leaves 


HOW  TO  STUDY  PLANT  LIFE       75 

which,  lying  close  to  the  ground,  live  over  the 
winter  and  make  it  possible  for  the  plant  to 
bloom  early  in  the  following  spring.  There 
is  a  cluster  of  leaves  at  the  base  of  the  stem  and 
these  are  toothed  at  the  upper  end ;  but  higher 
up  the  stem  the  leaves  are  entire — that  is,  not 
cut  into  in  any  way.  The  stems  are  more  or 
less  hairy,  and  on  coming  to  the  " flowers" 
themselves  we  find  them  entirely  different  from 
the  simplicity  of  the  Buttercups.  At  first 
sight  you  may  have  thought  the  tiny,  green 
leaf -like  objects  close  under  the  "  flower"  were 
sepals,  the  pale  bluish-purple  ray  a  ring  of  pet- 
als, and  the  golden  center  a  dense  mass  of 
stamens  with,  perhaps,  some  pistil  hidden  away 
somewhere.  But  directly  you  begin  to  exam- 
ine the  " flower,"  to  pull  it  to  pieces  and  look 
at  it  under  your  magnifying-glass,  you  find 
that  this  theory  will  not  work  at  all!  The 
plant  is  far  more  complex  than  you  had  imag- 
ined. Pulling  out  one  of  the  rays,  holding  it 
by  a  dissecting-needle  and  placing  it  under  the 
magnifying-glass,  you  discover  it  to  be  a  flower 
in  itself,  entirely  different  from  the  complete 
flower  and  the  regular  shape  of  the  Buttercup, 


76      WILD  FLOWER  PRESERVATION 

but,  nevertheless,  a  separate  flower.  You 
make  a  similar  discovery  on  examining  one  of 
the  yellow  objects  you  had  thought  to  be 
stamens.  It  also  is  a  miniature  flower  in  it- 
self. The  corolla  is  tubular,  opening  into  five 
lobes  at  the  mouth  and  you  can  see  the  pistil 
and  the  stamens  within. 

The  Robin's  Plantain  is  a  compound  or  com- 
posite flower.  It  is  a  flower-colony,  and  we 
speak  of  these  flower-colonies  as  flower-heads. 

Having  discovered  something  of  what  the 
Robin's  Plantain  is  and  is  not,  it  should  now 
be  examined  more  perfectly. 

EXERCISE  II. 

Cut  off  a  flower-head,  place  it  upside  down 
on  the  table  and  with  a  sharp  penknife  cut 
down  through  the  short  length  of  stalk  to  the 
apex  of  the  yellow  disc,  so  that  you  divide  the 
floral  colony  into  halves,  as  in  Plate  III,  Fig. 
2.  Clustering  beneath  the  flower-head  are 
rings  of  leaf-like  objects  that  resemble  sepals. 
They  are  not  called  the  calyx,  however,  for  that 
term  is  reserved  for  the  cup  that  preserves  a 
single  flower.  They  are  called  bracts  (Fig.  3) , 


PLATE  III. — Roux's  PLAKTAIX,  WITH  VARIOUS  PARTS  EX 

CDnwn  ly  Una  L.  Foster.) 


HOW  TO  STUDY  PLANT  LIFE       77 

collectively  the  involucre  (see  p.  162).  Pull 
off  several  bracts  so  that  you  may  remove  a 
few  ray  flowers,  or  florets,  easily  and  without 
injury.  The  corolla  is  strap-shaped  for  half 
of  its  length  (Fig.  4),  but  near  the  middle  its 
edges  unite  to  form  a  tube.  This  is  sur- 
rounded by  a  ring  of  long  hairs  which  grow 
from  its  base — the  strangely  transformed  calyx 
of  the  floret.  From  the  tube  peeps  the  tiny 
pistil  with  its  two  branches,  or  arms,  called 
stigmas.  There  are  no  stamens,  so  these 
purple  ray  florets  are  imperfect  and  cannot  of 
themselves  produce  seed.  You  will  probably 
ask  why  they  should  exist ;  but  imagine  how  in- 
significant and  unattractive  the  flower-head 
would  look  without  them.  They  are  not  use- 
less, for  even  though  they  should  not  produce 
seed,  they  attract  insects  to  the  seed-producing 
yellow  florets  of  the  disc.  They  act  as  flags, 
and  so  serve  a  most  useful  purpose. 

Some  plants  are  fertilized  by  their  own 
pollen,  others  either  occasionally  or  invariably 
require  pollen  from  other  flowers  of  the  same 
species  before  good  seed  can  be  set.  This  pol- 
len is  conveyed  from  plant  to  plant  chiefly 


78      WILD  FLOWER  PRESERVATION 

by  the  wind  and  insects.  Wind-fertilized 
flowers  are  generally  insignificant  in  size  and 
color  and  without  perfume.  Those  fertilized 
by  insects  are  usually  large  or  conspicuously 
colored,  but  if  small  they  are  massed  together 
in  bunches  or  colonies  like  the  plant  under 
present  discussion.  They  are  generally 
sweetly  or  disagreeably  scented  according  to 
the  kind  of  insect  they  wish  to  attract,  which  is 
also  the  kind  of  insect  best  adapted  to  effect 
their  fertilization.  You  will  find  further  in- 
formation on  the  subject  of  fertilization  on 
p.  169. 

We  turn  now  to  the  golden  disc  florets, 
which  are  arranged  on  a  cushion-like  recep- 
tacle (Fig.  5),  which  gives  room  for  all  to  ex- 
pand. If  you  look  carefully  you  will  see  that 
the  florets  near  the  circumference  of  the  disc 
(Fig.  5 A)  are  more  fully  open  and  matured 
than  those  in  and  near  the  center  (B).  They 
take  it  in  turns  to  ripen,  those  at  the  edge  al- 
ways having  "first  turn,"  while  the  central 
florets  bow  politely  to  their  elders  with  a 
courteous  "Apres  vous!" 

Examine  one  of  the  ripest  florets  under  the 


HOW  TO  STUDY  PLANT  LIFE       79 

magnifying-glass.  The  wee  corolla  (Fig.  6) 
has  five  petals  united  in  a  tube,  except  where 
they  divide  at  the  mouth  and,  like  the  ray- 
florets,  is  surrounded  by  a  ring  of  hairs.  On 
cutting  the  floret  open  you  will  find  that  the 
five  stamens  sit  on  the  walls  of  this  corolla  tube 
(Fig.  7),  and  as  the  edges  of  their  anthers  ad- 
here they  themselves  form  a  tube.  You  must 
take  special  notice  of  this,  for  it  is  a  character- 
istic of  the  Compositae,  or  Family  of  Compo- 
site Plants.  There  is  another  family  known 
as  Dipsacaceae  (including  the  well-known 
Teasel)  which  consists  of  compound  flowers 
with  no  such  tube. 

We  come  now  to  the  pistil,  which  (as  you 
have  learnt  from  the  Glossary)  consists  of 
stigma,  style,  and  ovary.  I  want  you  to  look 
first  into  an  unripe  floret.  When  the  corolla 
tube  is  cut  open  and  examined  under  a  micro- 
scope it  looks  like  the  sketch  at  Fig.  8,  Plate 
III.  Your  glass  may  not  show  this  so  clearly 
but  you  will  distinguish  the  anthers  clasping 
the  stigma. 

Now  take  a  floret  rather  farther  from  the 
center  of  the  disc,  but  do  not  open  it.  The 


80      WILD  FLOWER  PRESERVATION 

anthers  have  shed  their  golden  pollen  dust,  and 
the  pistil's  style  has  lengthened  so  that  the  lit- 
tle stigma  has  pushed  the  pollen  up  to  the 
mouth  of  the  corolla  tube,  where  insects  may 
easily  find  and  carry  it  off  to  other  robin's 
plantain  flowers  (see  Fig.  9) .  'You  must  now 
take  a  third  floret  still  farther  from  the  center 
of  the  disc.  "What's  happened?"  you  ask. 
The  pollen  has  gone,  the  stigma  seems  to  have 
gone  too  (Fig.  10)  ;  but  in  its  place  two  arms 
are  outspread,  two  stigmas  instead  of  one. 
There  always  were  two  stigmas,  but  they  were 
folded  together  like  hands,  palm  to  palm,  and 
the  sticky,  stigmatic  surface  was  inside.  This 
elaborate  floral  mechanism  ensures  cross-ferti- 
lization, and  prevents  or  lessens  the  chance  of 
self-fertilization.  As  long  as  the  floret's  own 
pollen  was  within  the  corolla  tube  the  stigmatic 
surfaces  were  enclosed  and  protected.  To  en- 
able insects  to  gain  access  to  this  pollen  and  to 
carry  it  off  to  other  flowers  the  style  length- 
ened, and  the  protected  stigmas  pushed  it  up 
and  out  as  a  sweep's  brush  pushes  soot  out 
from  the  chimney.  Then  when  the  pollen  had 
been  carried  away  came  the  pistil's  turn,  and 


HOW  TO  STUDY  PLANT  LIFE       81 

the  stigmas  opened  out  to  catch  any  pollen  that 
insects  might  drop  after  visiting  younger 
florets. 

After  fertilization  the  ray  florets  wither  and 
the  corollas,  stamens,  and  stigmas  of  the  disc 
gradually  fade  and  fall  off,  for  they  have  ful- 
filled their  purpose,  and  the  little  seeds,  or  more 
properly  achenes,  are  left,  each  crowned  with 
its  plume  of  tawny  hairs  (Fig.  11).  As  the 
receptacle  dries,  their  attachment  becomes 
looser  until  at  last  they  are  entirely  free  and 
ready  to  be  carried  off  by  any  passing  breeze — 
the  plume  of  hairs  acting  like  a  little  parachute 
to  assist  in  this  process — and  to  begin  life  for 
themselves. 

EXERCISE  III. 

Make  a  rough  drawing  of  a  Kobin's  Plan- 
tain, including  the  root,  runners,  lower  leaves, 
flower-stems,  and  flower-heads,  marking  each 
(from  memory)  after  the  style  of  Plate  III. 

EXERCISE  IV. 

Draw  the  following  parts  of  the  plant  sev- 
eral times  their  exact  size,  using  the  magnify- 


82      WILD  FLOWER  PRESERVATION 

ing-glass  to  make  all  clear: — Flower-head  cut 
through  from  stem  to  the  apex  of  the  disc, 
single  bracts,  one  ray  floret,  disc  florets  in 
three  stages,  and  a  mature  flower-head  after 
the  withering  of  the  ray  florets,  showing  the 
achenes  with  their  plumes  of  hair. 

EXERCISE  V. 

Study  the  description  of  the  Robin's  Plan- 
tain given  in  the  Flora  and  write  down  a  short- 
ened and  simplified  form  of  this  in  your  note- 
book, adding  to  the  paragraph  anything  fur- 
ther that  you  learn .  from  Nature's  Garden 
either  about  the  Robin's  Plantain  itse'lf  or  the 
characteristics  of  its  Family. 

EXERCISE  VI. 

Preserve  two  plants  by  arranging  them  very 
carefully  in  a  press,  and  using  blotting-paper 
and  wadding  circular  pads  for  equalizing  pres- 
sure round  the  flower-heads  (see  p.  130). 

Every  plant  found  should  be  examined  and 
described  according  to  the  method  suggested 
in  these  exercises.  If  you  have  very  little 
leisure,  sketch  only  the  peculiar  characteristics 


HOW  TO  STUDY  PLANT  LIFE       83 

of  each  plant ;  but  there  must  always  be  careful 
examination  and  dissection  and  some  record 
kept  of  this.  Busy  students  will  readily  invent 
time-saving  contrivances  in  the  way  of  signs, 
symbols,  and  abbreviations  for  constantly  re- 
curring terms.  The  following  suggestions  will 
reduce  the  work  of  making  notes  to  a  very 
short  and  simple  process. 

R.,   =root  Cor.  =  corolla 

8t.  =  stem  P.    =  petals 

L.    =  leaves  Sta.  =  stamens 

Fl.  =  flowers  Pt.  =  pistil 

Fst.=  flower-stems  V    =  stigma 

Fh.  =  flower-heads  I      =  style 

C.    =  calyx  0.    -—  ovary 

8.    =  sepals  Fr.  =  fruit 

After  working  for  a  few  months  with  Na- 
ture's Garden,  students  may  add  to  their  bo- 
tanical library ;  but  in  buying  new  books  it  is 
necessary  to  take  care  that  the  subjects  do  not 
overlap  too  much.  It  is  distinctly  trying  to 
find  two  books  giving  exactly  the  same  infor- 
mation, and  only  differing  in  general  style  and 
in  the  presentation  of  the  facts.  All  works  on 
plant  life  must  have  something  in  common,  but 
each  new  book  bought  should  be  chosen  with 


84      WILD  FLOWER  PRESERVATION 

the  idea  of  widening  and  deepening  present 
knowledge,  and  not  of  reiterating  what  has 
been  already  learnt. 

It  is  safe  to  say  that  no  one  has  made  natural 
history  more  attractive  than  did  William 
Hamilton  Gibson.  In  the  botanical  parts  of 
his  three  volumes  (Eye-Spy,  My  Studio 
Neighbors  and  Sharp  Eyes,  Harper  &  Bros., 
New  York,  $2.50  each)  are  to  be  found  many 
interesting  observations  on  plants  and  their 
ways,  charmingly  told  and  still  more  charm- 
ingly illustrated.  They  tell  of  the  fertiliza- 
tion of  different  flowers  and  the  insects  which 
accomplish  it,  the  behavior  of  tendrils,  seed- 
lings, pollen-grains,  seed  dispersal,  etc.  And, 
perhaps  best  of  all,  they  will  show  you  what  to 
look  for  in  your  own  observations  of  plants 
which  they  do  not  describe.  Another  alto- 
gether excellent  little  book  is  Clarence  Moores 
Weed's  Ten  New  England  Blossoms  and  their 
Insect  Visitors  (Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Co.,  Bos- 
ton, $1.25).  The  title  modestly  mentions  only 
ten  flowers  but  almost  three  times  as  many, 
nearly  all  different  from  those  in  Gibson's 


HOW  TO  STUDY  PLANT  LIFE       85 

books,  are  described  with  reference  to  methods 
of  fertilization,  devices  for  protection  against 
their  enemies  and  their  origin  and  development 
in  past  ages.  This  book,  too,  will  show  the 
way  for  your  own  observations. 

Doubtless  you  will  want,  in  time,  a  wider  and 
deeper  knowledge  of  the  life  history  of  plants. 
A  good  and  pleasantly  written  popular  book 
along  this  line  is  Maud  Going's  Field,  Forest 
and  Wayside  Flowers  (Baker  &  Taylor  Co., 
$1.50).  This  takes  up  subjects  suggested  by 
the  plants  in  the  order  in  which  they  appear 
during  the  season,  such  as  the  flowers,  buds 
and  fruit  of  spring  trees;  the  leaves,  their 
structure  and  the  work  they  do  for  the  plant ; 
the  structure  of  stems;  climbing  plants;  the 
life  history  of  ferns ;  evergreen  trees ;  the  fall 
of  the  leaves  in  autumn ;  and  the  winter  resting 
of  plants.  Unlike  most  popular  books,  it  con- 
tains chapters  on  grasses  and  sedges  and  their 
interesting  floral  structures,  but  unconsciously 
furnishes  an  illustration  of  the  reason  why 
these  families  are  usually  left  out — for  both 
the  species  of  sedge  pictured  are  wrongly 


86      WILD  FLOWER  PRESERVATION 

named!  The  book  has  over  100  illustrations 
and  refers  to  more  of  our  own  native  plants 
than  most  general  works. 

A  valuable  book  is  The  Living  Plant  by  Pro- 
fessor William  F.  Ganong  of  Smith  College 
(Henry  Holt  &  Co.,  New  York,  $3.50) .  It  has 
the  unusual  advantage  of  having  been  written 
by  a  thoroughly  competent  scientist  especially 
for  persons  interested  in  botany  but  with  lit- 
tle technical  knowledge  of  it.  The  author  uses 
some  technical  terms  because  they  furnish 
often  the  only  method  of  saying  briefly  exactly 
what  one  means ;  but  such  terms  are  carefully 
explained.  You  may  want  to  read  the  book 
backward,  for  it  begins  with  an  account  of  the 
cells  of  plants  and  their  work,  something  very 
wonderful  but  which  you  cannot  see  for  your- 
self without  a  compound  microscope  and  skill 
in  using  it,  and  only  in  the  middle  do  you  reach 
a  treatment  of  such  subjects  as  the  movements 
of  plants,  their  devices  for  reproduction  and 
other  things  which  you  can  see  for  yourself. 
But  whichever  way  you  read  it,  you  will  find  it 
worth  reading  and  when  you  have  finished,  you 
will  have  a  very  complete  summary  of  what  is 


HOW  TO  STUDY  PLANT  LIFE       87 

known  about  the  life  of  plants.  Another  work 
which  covers  much  the  same  ground  is  Knight 
and  Step's  Popular  Botany  (Henry  Holt  & 
Co.,  New  York,  2  vols.,  $5.00).  It  has  a  more 
popular  style  and  in  some  instances  goes  more 
into  detail  than  does  Ganong's  book;  but  it  is 
not  so  well  written  and  arranged.  It  is,  how- 
ever, interesting  for  its  more  than  700  beauti- 
ful illustrations  from  photographs  which  in- 
clude many  American  plants. 

These  books  make  a  good  beginning  for  a 
botanical  library.  As  you  go  on,  you  will 
doubtless  want  to  add  more  according  to  your 
taste  and  capacity  and  the  money  at  your  com- 
mand. .There  are  many  attractive  books  and 
new  ones  are  constantly  appearing.  , Ganong's 
book  is  of  value  here  because  of  its  suggestions 
for  further  reading  along  different  lines. 

In  studying  plant  life  the  student  must  guard 
against  attempting  too  much  in  a  day  or  in 
any  one  season.  Few  people  have  very  much 
leisure,  so  that  it  is  far  better  to  examine  a 
few  plants  thoroughly,  to  know  twenty  really 
well,  and  to  have  an  interesting  record  of  them 
in  your  note-book,  than  to  have  such  a  cursory 


88      WILD  FLOWER  PRESERVATION 

knowledge  of  a  hundred  that  you  are  con- 
tinually confusing  the  names  of  similar  species, 
wondering  why  two  plants  may  not  share  the 
same  name,  and  inveighing  against  the  "mud- 
dlesomeness"  of  botany  in  general! 

Nature  is  never  in  a  hurry.  Learn  from  her 
how  to  "make  haste  slowly!" 

I  want  to  give  you  one  more  little  hint  be- 
fore bringing  this  chapter  to  its  close. 

A  botanist  ought  to  be  a  fascinating  com- 
panion and  one  of  the  most  entertaining  of 
guests  at  picnic  and  rambling  parties,  but — 
just  occasionally — he  is  nothing  of  the  sort! 
He  is,  instead,  a  most  inexpressible  bore! 
Most  of  us  have  met  such  a  person.  He  posi- 
tively hurls  knowledge  at  the  heads  of  les 
autres  and  pours  forth  torrents  of  Latin  at  the 
least  provocation.  Please  do  not  develop  into 
anything  so  objectionable,  will  you? 

The  average  person  has  no  wish  to  know 
the  Latin  names  of  the  plants  he  finds.  He 
does  not  care  an  atom  whether  "the  thing" 
has  five  or  three  styles — "whatever  styles  may 
be" — or  how  this  important  matter  of  its 
wealth  in  styles  distinguishes  it  from  its  less 


HOW  TO  STUDY  PLANT  LIFE        89 

favored  relation.  He  is  not  on  bowing  terms 
with  its  relation,  and  he  regards  this  type  of 
gratis  information  as  just  one  degree  more 
boring  than  Mrs.  Brown's  recital  of  how  her 
"sister's  husband's  step-brother  married  Mrs. 
Smith's  cousin,  Susan  Ellen  Kobinson  as- 
was."  Neither  statement  leaves  him  with  a 
thirst  for  further  knowledge ! 

Unless  you  are  chatting  with  botanists,  tell 
your  friends  the  English  names  only  of  the 
plants  they  find,  for  these  are  easily  remem- 
bered. Do  not  worry  people  with  numbers  and 
parts,  for  they  are  usually  as  ignorant  of  plant 
organs  as  you  were  yourself  a  few  months  or 
years  ago !  Tell,  instead,  any  interesting  story 
you  know  of  the  plant's  method  of  reproducing 
itself ;  its  wonderful  plan  for  self-fertilization, 
or  for  preventing  this  and  securing  cross-fer- 
tilization ;  but  tell  all  this  in  the  simple,  chatty, 
unaffected  manner  that  invites  questions. 
Avoid  technical  terms  as  much  as  you  can,  and 
when  asked  a  question  you  cannot  answer — 
own  up  and  say  you  do  not  know ! 


GATHERING 

WILD 

FLOWERS 


For  of  all  things  there  is  none  so  sweet  as  sweet  air — 

Sweetest  of  all  things  is  wild-flower  air. ' ' 

RICHARD  JEFFEEIES. 


''0  the  gleesome  saunter  over  fields  and  hillsides ! 
The  leaves  and  flowers  of  the  commonest  weeds,  the 

moist  fresh  stillness  of  the  woods, 

The  exquisite  smell  of  the  earth  at  daybreak,  and  all 
through  the  forenoon." 

WALT  WHITMAN. 


CHAPTER  V 

GATHERING  WILD  FLOWERS 

Use  of  basket  or  collecting  case — Choosing  a  specimen  for 
preservation — Wanton  and  destructive  gathering — 
Only  a  few  of  each  species  to  be  picked. 

THERE  is  an  art  in  picking  flowers  as  there  is 
in  the  doing  of  most  other  things;  and  if 
plants  are  to  look  dainty  and  natural  when 
mounted  they  must  be  gathered  in  the  right 
way. 

Never  carry  them  in  your  hands  if  you  can 
avoid  this,  for  wild  flowers  wither  so  quickly 
and  their  leaves  and  stems  are  in  danger  of 
being  crushed.  A  collecting  case  or  a  basket 
should  be  used  instead  (see  p.  27),  and  the 
plants  must  not  be  too  much  crowded  in  this 
or  they  will  be  damaged.  Plants  keep  better, 
however,  in  a  case  moderately  well  filled,  than 
in  a  nearly  empty  one. 

When  choosing  specimens  for  preservation, 
remember  the  size  of  your  mounts.  It  is  far 

93 


94      WILD  FLOWER  PRESERVATION 

better  to  have  a  small  but  complete  specimen 
than  a  large  one  cut  down  to  the  required  size 
and  showing  nothing  but  a  huge  cluster  'of 
flowers  or  fruit,  six  inches  of  sturdy  stalk,  and 
close  to  its  cut  end  one  or  two  little  leaves,  too 
small  and  immature  to  show  the  characteristic 
shape.  (See  Plates  IV  and  V.)  Great  Wil- 
low-herb is  a  good  instance  of  a  plant  that  may 
be  found  quite  small  and  low  growing,  al- 
though its  average  height  is  3  ft.  to  4  ft.  and 
giants  of  over  5  ft.  are  occasionally  seen. 

All  plants,  however,  are  not  so  accommoda- 
ting, and  in  such  cases  a  few  inches  must  be 
cut  out  from  the  stems  a  little  beneath  the 
flower  or  upper  leaves.  This  will  show  the 
characteristic  growth  while  adapting  the  plant 
to  the  size  of  the  mount.  This  method  should 
never  be  employed,  however,  when  smaller 
and  complete  specimens  can  be  found,  for  it 
takes  away  from  the  natural  appearance  of  the 
plants. 

A  pair  of  scissors  should  be  used  for  cutting 
all  thick  and  obstinate  stems,  for  tearing  at  a 
plant  not  only  spoils  the  part  that  is  picked 
and  chafes  the  hand,  but  it  injures  the  sur- 


PLATE  IV.— GREAT  WILLOW-HERB. 

A    poor    specimen    for    preservation. 

(From   a    photograph.) 


PLATE  V.— GREAT  WILLOW-HERB. 

A   good   specimen   for   preservation. 
(Photographed  from  the  herbarium  of  Charles  H.  P.issell.) 


GATHERING  WILD  FLOWERS        95 

rounding  growth  and  loosens  the  roots.  Many 
plants  are  so  lightly  fastened  in  the  earth  that 
the  slightest  pull  uproots  them. 

Too  much  cannot  be  said  against  greedy  and 
destructive  gathering.  The  true  naturalist 
picks  a  plant  carefully,  measuring  with  the 
eye  the  length  of  stem  that  can  be  accommo- 
dated in  the  press,  and  cutting  it  off  at  that 
point. 

A  really  complete  specimen  should  show 
root,  stem,  leaves,  buds,  and  flowers.  When 
the  fruit  matures  rapidly  examples  may  often 
be  found  on  the  same  branch  as  the  buds,  and 
such  plants  should  be  chosen  for  the  herba- 
rium ;  but  in  most  cases  specimens  of  the  plant 
in  fruit  have  to  be  gathered  and  preserved 
later.  It  is  quite  easy  to  include  the  roots  of 
small  plants,  such  as  Violets  and  Anemones. 
The  roots  of  taller  plants  must  be  cut  off  and 
mounted  at  the  side  of  the  main  portion. 
Some  botanists  do  not  preserve  the  roots  of 
their  plants.  Roots  are  a  little  awkward  in 
the  press,  but  if  treated  like  all  other  knobby 
parts  of  plants  they  may  be  mounted  very 
successfully  (see  p.  127).  If  not  included  in 


96      WILD  FLOWER  PRESERVATION 

the  herbarium,  roots  must  be  dug  up  and 
studied  and  examined,  or  your  knowledge  of 
plants  will  be  very  incomplete;  but  the  roots 
of  rare  species  should  on  no  account  be  dis- 
turbed. 

Never  tear  up  handfuls  of  plants  to  choose 
out  the  best  afterwards  and  throw  the  re- 
mainder away ;  and  please  do  not  pick  a  bunch 
of  grass  because  some  coy  little  flower  is  hid- 
ing in  the  middle  of  it!  This  really  is  not 
1 1  playing  the  game. ' ' 

Do  not  aim  at  mounting  as  many  plants  as 
possible  in  your  first  season.  It  is  hard  to 
resist  such  a  temptation,  but  it  must  be  over- 
come if  disappointment  is  to  be  avoided.  The 
average  botanist  has  too  many  other  duties  to 
be  free  to  devote  a  great  deal  of  time  to  press- 
ing flowers;  and  if  a  number  of  plants  are 
hurriedly  pressed,  simply  because  they  are 
there  to  be  pressed,  the  result  will  be  extremely 
dismal.  At  the  end  of  a  few  months  you  will 
have  decided  that  half  this  book  is  pure  rub- 
bish! It  is  small  comfort  to  have  a  hundred 
specimens  in  the  herbarium  if  only  thirty  are 
recognizable  and  only  ten  really  beautiful. 


GATHERING  WILD  FLOWERS        97 

I  have  now  warned  you;  and  after  finding 
out  the  truth  of  all  I  have  said  by  one  or  two 
obstinate  little  experiments  (for  I  know  you 
will  experiment) ,  perhaps  you  will  settle  down 
to  "do  as  you  are  bid"  and  pick  fewer  plants, 
devoting  more  time  to  careful  pressing. 

You  will  have  your  reward  as  the  years  go 
by,  for  each  holiday  by  the  sea,  on  the  hills, 
or  among  the  country  lanes  will  give  you  some 
floral  memento  that  may  remain  "a  thing  of 
beauty  and  a  joy  forever." 


THE 

IDENTIRCATION 
OF  PLANTS 


"One  is  never  thoroughly  sociable  with  flowers  till 
they  are  naturalized,  as  it  were,  christened,  provided 
with  decent,  homely,  well- wearing  English  names." 
MARY  RUSSELL  MITFOED,  Our  Village. 

"The  Cowslip  startles  in  meadows  green, 
The  Buttercup  catches  the  sun  in  its  chalice, 
And  there's  never  a  leaf  or  a  blade  too  mean 
To  be  some  happy  creature 's  palace. 

No  matter  how  barren  the  past  may  have  been, 
'Tis  enough  for  us  now  that  the  leaves  are  green ; 
We  sit  in  the  warm  shade  and  feel  right  well 
How  the  sap  creeps  up  and  the  blossoms  swell ; 
We  may  shut  our  eyes,  but  we  cannot  help  knowing 
That  skies  are  clear  and  grasses  growing. ' ' 

JAMES  RUSSELL  LOWELL. 


CHAPTER  VI 
THE  IDENTIFICATION  OF  PLANTS 

Early  identification  —  Difficulty  of  identifying  many 
after  pressing  —  Examination  of  the  Cuckoo  Flower 
—  Scientific  methods  of  identification  useless  to  be- 
ginners —  An  examination  of  Mathews's  Field  Book  — 
A  popular  and  simple  method  of  classification  —  Ex- 
ample of  plant  description. 


flowers  should  be  identified  as  soon 
as  possible  after  gathering  for  they  wither 
very  quickly.  If  your  Flora  is  of  portable  size, 
take  it  into  the  fields  and  lanes  and  identify 
your  plants  under  the  blue  sky.  There  you 
can  compare  any  number  of  examples  with  the 
printed  descriptions  ;  you  can  verify  every  de- 
tail in  each  example;  and  the  plant's  mode  of 
growth  will  impress  itself  more  vividly  upon 
your  mind.  Flower-books,  too,  seem  less 
learned  and  terrifying  when  studied  in  the 
open  air,  and  tiny  penciled  notes  may  be  jotted 
in  their  margins  telling  where  and  when  you 

found  the  plants,  so  that  the  pages  become  rich 
101 


102     WILD  FLOWER  PRESERVATION 

with  associations  and  sunny  memories.  Some 
people 's  Floras  seem  dedicated  to  indoor  study 
only,  and  when  such  students  pore  over  them 
it  is  with  frowning  brows  and  rumpled  hair! 
The  books,  too,  are  stained  with  ink  and  they 
smell  fusty.  Now,  if  a  Flora  is  stained  at  all, 
it  ought  to  be  with  green  juice  and  pollen  dust 
and  not  with  anything  so  prosaic  as  ink! 

If  you  love  Nature  you  will  spend  every  pos- 
sible moment  in  her  presence;  and  on  still, 
warm  days  both  identification  and  pressing  can 
be  done  in  the  fields.  An  extra  stock  of  dry- 
ing-paper should  be  strapped  with  the  Flora 
and  paint-brush  to  the  side  of  the  press,  and 
the  scissors  and  magnifying-glass  can  go  in  the 
basket.  When  the  press  contains  plants  that 
are  dry  enough  for  mounting,  these  should  be 
removed  before  starting  for  another  flower- 
hunting  expedition. 

For  obvious  reasons,  plants  will  most  fre- 
quently have  to  be  identified  indoors.  If  you 
use  a  collecting  case,  they  will,  if  sprinkled 
with  a  little  water,  keep  fresh  in  it  for  several 
hours  or  even  a  day  or  two.  But  if  brought 
in  a  basket,  they  should  be  placed  in  jars  of 


THE  IDENTIFICATION  OF  PLANTS     103 

water  immediately  you  enter  the  house.  If 
left  for  half  an  hour,  especially  after  a  long 
tramp,  you  will  find  them  limp  and  wilted. 
Jars  are  preferable  to  bowls,  as  they  give 
greater  support  to  the  stems,  and  as  fruit  jars 
are  usually  plentiful,  do  not  be  stingy  in  this 
respect  but  use  a  liberal  number,  putting  a  few 
plants  only  into  each.  This  is  not  fussiness. 
You  must  remember  that  every  error,  from 
picking  to  mounting,  will  show  itself  in  the 
mounted  specimen.  If  you  have  torn  the 
stem-leaves  off  in  gathering,  the  wound  will 
show.  If  the  plant  has  been  crowded  in  the 
basket  or  in  the  water- jar,  or  allowed  to  remain 
without  water  too  long,  it  will  rarely  be  worth 
mounting  at  all.  It  will  look  what  it  is — an 
exhausted  plant,  crumpled  and  dying  and  mis- 
erable. The  jars  should  contain  very  little 
water,  sufficient  to  cover  only  one  inch  of  each 
stalk.  Wet  plants  are  dangerous  in  the  press, 
for  they  cause  mildew.  As  soon  as  the  plants 
are  arranged  in  the  jars,  place  them  upon  a 
table  in  a  good  light,  with  your  Flora,  note- 
book, magnifying-glass,  penknife  and  dissect- 
ing-needles  at  hand. 


104     WILD  FLOWER  PRESERVATION 

Plants  are  most  easily  identified  when  fresh 
and  it  is  better  to  do  it  then  if  possible,  but 
flowers  and  other  parts  of  pressed  plants  be- 
come soft  and  take  on  their  natural  shapes 
again  if  plunged  for  a  few  seconds  into  boiling 
water,  and  can  then  be  dissected  and  exam- 
ined. If  you  are  going  to  do  this,  you  should 
provide  some  extra  material  when  pressing 
your  finds,  so  as  to  leave  an  undamaged  speci- 
men for  your  herbarium. 

How  TO  EXAMINE  A  PLANT. 

When  identifying  plants  the  flowers  should 
be  carefully  dissected,  and  every  organ  ex- 
amined through  the  magnifying-glass  and 
compared  with  the  plates  and  descriptions  in 
the  Flora.  You  cannot  really  know  a  plant 
until  you  have,  done  this. 

The  Frontispiece  will  show  you  the  various 
stages  in  the  examination  of  the  Cuckoo 
Flower  (Cardamine  pratensis) — a  very  good 
and  typical  example  of  the  Cress  Family.  To 
begin  with,  you  have  the  entire  plant,  showing 
its  root  (1)  and  the  arrangement  of  its  two 
kinds  of  leaves,  radical  (springing  directly 


THE  IDENTIFICATION  OF  PLANTS     105 

from  the  root)  (2)  and  cauline  (springing 
from  the  stems)  (3).  You  can  see  (at  4)  how 
the  flowers  are  arranged  on  the  stems  and  that 
each  has  a  separate  stalk  of  its  own  (5).  Cut 
off.  one  of  these  flowers  and  examine  it  sep- 
arately, both  with  the  naked  eye  and  through 
the  magnifying-glass  (6  and  7).  Its  four 
sepals  must  be  removed  by  the  thumb  and 
knife-blade.  You  will  see  that  two  of  these 
sepals  are  pouched  at  the  base  (8) .  The  long 
"claws"  of  the  petals  (or  stalked  portions)  are 
now  left  unprotected  (9),  and  if  pressed  open 
on  a  sheet  of  paper  their  crucif  er  arrangement 
is  very  distinct  (10).  The  four  petals  are  re- 
moved next.  A  single  one  is  shown  at  11,  A 
being  the  limb  and  B  the  claw.  The  remain- 
ing group  of  six  stamens  and  the  pistil  is  given 
at  12,  and  you  will  notice  that  four  of  the  sta- 
mens are  of  equal  length  and  that  two  are 
shorter.  Remove  these  and  examine  each  un- 
der the  glass  (13).  You  have  now  nothing 
but  the  pistil  left  (14),  consisting  of  the 
stigma,  A,  style,  B,  and  ovary,  C. 

After  examining  a  plant  in  this  way  you  will 
know  it   thoroughly.    You  will  be   far   less 


106     WILD  FLOWER  PRESERVATION 

likely  to  forget  its  floral  structure  than  if  you 
had  merely  moved  its  organs  aside  to  see  if 
they  fitted  the  descriptions  in  the  Flora  (and 
where  you  could  not  see  for  certain,  had- hoped 
for  the  best)  and  passed  on  to  the  same  half- 
hearted examination  of  another  plant. 

DISCOVERING  THE  NAMES  OF  PLANTS. 

All  good  Floras  give  instructions  for  the 
scientific  identification  of  plants,  so  that  the  in- 
formation need  not  be  repeated  here.  A  few 
hints,  however,  may  not  come  amiss  to  the  un- 
scientific. 

On  looking  through  an  illustrated  Flora  and 
realizing  the  number  of  plants  described,  ama- 
teurs are  sometimes  confused  and  disheartened. 
Cheer  up!  An  hour's  study  will  soon  teach 
you  your  way  about  such  books. 

Let  us  suppose  that  you  are  a  beginner. 
You  have  found  a  Yellow  Adder's  Tongue  and 
do  not  know  what  it  is.  You  observe  that  it 
has  two  narrowly  oval,  pointed  leaves,  appar- 
ently growing  directly  from  the  root  and  pe- 
culiarly mottled  with  brownish  purple  spots. 
Between  the  leaves  rises  the  short,  slender. 


THE  IDENTIFICATION  OF  PLANTS     107 

naked  stem  which  bears  at  its  summit  a  single 
rather  large,  nodding  flower.  The  flower  has 
six  divisions  all  alike,  yellow  or  tinged  with 
purple  on  the  outside  and  with  their  tips  some- 
what bent  back.  You  hardly  know  whether  to 
call  them  a  corolla  or  a  calyx.  When,  as  in 
this  case,  there  is  only  one  distinguishable 
floral  envelope,  some  botanists  always  call  it 
a  calyx,  however  brilliantly  colored  it  may  be ; 
but  the  most  learned  are  in  somewhat  the  same 
uncertainty  as  you  and  it  is  more  usual  to  beg 
the  question  by  calling  it  a  perianth — which 
is  Greek  for  "around  the  flower"  and  is  a  gen- 
eral term  for  all  floral  envelopes,  including 
both  calyx  and  corolla.  Within,  the  flower  has 
a  single  pistil  and  six  stamens. 

A  glance  at  the  end  of  Mathews's  Field  Book 
shows  that  it  contains  about  550  plates,  many 
of  which  illustrate  more  than  one  species — 
nearly  700  pictures  in  all.  This  is  nothing  to 
the  more  than  4,000  species  described  in  techni- 
cal floras ;  but  it  seems  a  melancholy  number  of 
pictures  to  scan  in  your  search  and  you  nat- 
urally hope  your  plant  may  come  somewhere 
near  the  middle  of  the  book. 


108     WILD  FLOWER  PRESERVATION 

Another  glance  shows  you  that  the  last  sixty- 
eight  pages  describe  various  members  of  the 
Composite  Family,  which  have  many  small 
flowers  grouped  together  in  close  heads  which 
often  look  like  a  single  flower.  Your  plant 
cannot  belong  here ;  indeed,  you  would  hardly 
need  to  be  told  that  it  did  not  go  with  the 
Goldenrods  and  Asters.  Next  to  the  Compo- 
sitae  come  families  equally  impossible.  The 
Lobelias  have  irregular  flowers ;  that  is,  their 
petals  are  of  different  shapes  and  sizes  in  the 
same  flower,  instead  of  all  alike,  as  in  your 
flower.  The  Bellflowers  have  a  five-parted 
corolla  and  moreover  the  parts  are  grown  to- 
gether below  into  a  broad  tube  or  urn ;  in  your 
flower  they  are  separate.  Then  follow  a  long 
series  of  families — Plantains,  Figworts,  Mints, 
Borages,  Milkweeds,  Gentians — very  different 
from  one  another  but  all  unlike  your  plant  in 
that  they  have  five-parted  corollas  with  the 
divisions  more  or  less  united.  At  page  326,  in 
the  Pyrola  Family,  you  come  for  the  first  time 
to  flowers  with  separate  petals;  but  the  petals 
are  five  instead  of  six.  The  Parsley  Family 
which  comes  next  has  very  small  flowers  usu- 


THE  IDENTIFICATION  OF  PLANTS     109 

ally  in  dense,  flat-topped  clusters ;  and  it  and 
all  its  neighbors  for  many  pages — Evening 
Primroses,  Violets,  Sumachs,  Milkworts,  Ge- 
raniums, Clovers  and  Roses  and  their  rela- 
tives, Mustards,  Crowfoots  and  Pinks — have 
the  parts  of  the  flower  in  fives  or  fours  or  twos, 
never  in  threes  or  sixes. 

Next  you  reach  the  Amaranths  and  Knot- 
weeds  which  have  .tiny  inconspicuous  flowers, 
not  at  all  like  yours.  The  Virginia  Snakeroot 
has  irregular  flowers  again :  the  Wild  Ginger, 
heart-shaped  leaves.  Then  come  the  Orchids, 
in  all  of  which  the  flowers  are  of  strange  and 
fantastic  shapes,  very  unlike  the  simplicity 
and  symmetry  of  the  one  you  have.  The  Blue- 
eyed  Grass  has  a  six-parted  regular  flower,  but 
it  is  nearly  flat  and,  as  its  name  indicates,  blue 
in  color;  and  the  leaves  are  very  narrow  and 
grass-like.  A  glance  shows  your  plant  cannot 
be  an  Iris — indeed,  you  know  that  yourself. 
The  Star-grass  has  flat  flowers  and  narrow 
leaves.  Here,  however,  on  page  60,  you  find 
at  last  in  the  Atamasco  Lily,  a  flower  which 
closely  resembles  yours  and  feel  that  you  are 
getting  "warm."  But  it  grows  upright,  not 


110     WILD  FLOWER  PRESERVATION 

nodding  and  the  description  tells  you  its  color 
is  "crimson-pink";  also  the  leaves  are  grass- 
like.  The  Star-of -Bethlehem  has  several 
flowers  on  the  same  stem  and  again  the  leaves 
are  narrow:  leaves  and  color  of  flowers  are 
wrong  in  the  Day  Lily :  the  Wild  Onions  have 
clusters  of  small  flowers  which  are  sometimes 
replaced  by  tiny  bulbs. 

Then  you  turn  the  page  (54)  and  there  is  a 
plant  that  agrees  in  every  particular  with  the 
one  in  your  hand.  Here  are  same  oval, 
poijated,  mottled  leaves,  the  slender,  naked 
stem  and  the  single  nodding  flower  with 
its  six  divisions  and  the  six  stamens  and  the 
single  pistil  within.  Your  plant  is  the  Yellow 
Adder's  Tongue  or  (a  very  poor  name)  Dog's- 
tooth  Violet. 

You  might,  of  course,  have  found  it  more 
quickly  by  beginning  at  the  beginning;  but  I 
have  taken  you  through  nearly  all  of  the  Field 
Book  backwards  so  that  you  might  learn  as 
much  as  possible  before  you  came  to  the  plant 
you  wanted  to  identify.  You  have  missed 
only  a  few  of  the  Lily  Family,  the  Arums  and 
Cat-tails  and  it  will  be  a  small  matter  to  look 


THE  IDENTIFICATION  OF  PLANTS     111 

over  that  part  of  the  book  and  learn  something 
of  their  characteristics. 

Until  you  are  familiar  with  a  few  botanical 
terms  you  will  mainly  depend  upon  pictures 
for  the  identification  of  your  plants;  so  that 
a  freely  illustrated  Flora  will  be  essential  to 
you.  Master  the  characteristics  of  the  chief 
Families  and  you  will  soon  know  where  to 
look  for  most  plants  when  you  scan  the  pages 
of  the  book.  Later  you  will  rely  upon  the 
scientific  methods  explained  in  such  works. 

How  to  Know  the  Wild  Flowers  is  a  book 
that  beginners  will  find  most  helpful  (see  p. 
32).  The  author  has  very  successfully  classi- 
fied plants  first  under  the  colors  of  their 
flowers  and  afterwards  under  the  months  in 
which  they  appear,  a  popular  method  which 
makes  identification  delightfully  simple  and 
easy.  Let  us  suppose  you  are  trying  to 
identify  your  Yellow  Adder's  Tongue  by  this 
book.  It  is  yellow,  so  you  look  in  the  section 
on  yellow  flowers;  and  you  found  it  in  early 
spring,  so  you  look  near  the  beginning  of  that 
section.  The  third  description  exactly  fits 
your  plant — "Erythroniwm  Americanum. 


112     WILD  FLOWER  PRESERVATION 

Lily  Family.  Scape. — six  to  nine  inches  high ; 
one-flowered.  Leaves. — Two ;  oblong-lance- 
shaped;  pale  green  mottled  with  purple  and 
white.  Flowers. — Rather  large;  pale  yellow 
marked  with  purple;  nodding.  Perianth. — 
Of  six  recurved  or  spreading  sepals. 
Stamens. — Six.  Pistil. — One." 

Not  all  plants  are  easy  to  identify  but  a  few 
references  to  the  illustrated  Glossary  (pp.  155 
to  168)  and  a  careful  examination  of  each  plant 
will  soon  make  you  familiar  with  the  various 
floral  organs.  When  you  have  mastered  these 
the  Flora  will  become  helpful  instead  of  con- 
fusing. 

Have  you  ever  thought  that  methods  of 
growth  and  arrangement  might  be  better  de- 
scribed in  English  %  Try  it,  and  see  what  long 
cumbersome  descriptions  are  the  result.  The 
same  things  may  be  stated  very  quickly  by  the 
use  of  a  few  technical  terms,  and  you  will  soon 
be  familiar  with  the  commonest  of  these. 

EXAMPLE  OF  PLANT  DESCRIPTION 

The  following  description  of  the  Ox-Eye 
Daisy,  Plate  VI,  taken  from  Britton  and 


PLATE  VI.— OX-EYE  DAISY,  WITH  VARIOUS  PARTS  ENLARGED. 


THE  IDENTIFICATION  OF  PLANTS     113 

Brown's  Illustrated  Flora,  is  not  very  dread- 
ful, and  it  should  be  worked  out  like  an  exer- 
cise with  the  plant  in  your  hand.  The  sen- 
tences in  brackets  are  in  the  nature  of  a  run- 
ning comment  and  explanation. 

"  CHRYSANTHEMUM  LEUCANTHEMUM  L. 
White-weedy  White  or  Ox-eye  Daisy.  .  .  . 
Perennial ;  stem  glabrous,  or  sparingly  puber- 
ulent  (with  a  close,  short  down),  simple  or  lit- 
tle branched,  1  to  3  ft.  high,  often  tufted,  the 
branches  nearly  erect.  Basal  leaves  (Fig.  1) 
obovate  (inversely  egg-shaped,  the  broader  end 
uppermost),  oblong,  or  spatulate  (spoon- 
shaped,  with  a  broad,  rounded  upper  end  and  a 
long  and  narrow  base),  coarsely  dentate  (the 
margin  cut  into  teeth  pointing  outward) ,  or  in- 
cised (the  margin  cut  into  sharp,  deep  and  ir- 
regular divisions),  narrowed  into  long  slender 
petioles  (leaf-stalks) ;  stem-leaves  (Fig.  2) 
mostly  sessile  (without  separate  leaf -stalks  of 
their  own,  sitting  directly  upon  the  stem)  and 
partly  clasping  (the  base  extending  around  the 
stem),  1  to  3  inches  long,  linear-spatulate 
(narrowly  spoon-shaped)  or  linear,  pinnately 
(feather-like,  the  veins  branching  from  the 


114     WILD  FLOWER  PRESERVATION 

midrib  on  both  sides  like  tlie  webs  of  a  feather) 
incised  or  toothed,  the  uppermost  very  small 
and  nearly  entire;  heads  few  or  solitary 
(singly,  not  in  clusters'),  1  to  2  inches  broad, 
on  long  naked  peduncles  (flower-stalks,  Fig. 
3) ;  rays  20  to  30,  white,  spreading,  slightly  2 
to  3-toothed  (Figs.  6  and  7)  ;  bracts  of  the  in- 
volucre (the  rings  of  leaf-like  growth  just  be- 
neath the.  florets,  Fig.  4),  oblong-lanceolate 
(between  oblong  and  lance-shaped,  i.e.  con- 
spicuously longer  than  broad  and  tapering  up- 
ward or  both  ways  from  the  middle),  obtuse 
(with  a  blunt  end),  mostly  glabrous,  with  scar- 
ious  (thin,  dry  and  not  green,  like  the  flowers 
of  the  "Everlasting"  used  for  wreaths  by  flor- 
ists) margins  and  a  brown  line  within  the 
margins  (Fig.  5)  ;  pappus  (the  modified  calyx 
of  the  Composite  Family)  none." 


THE  ART 
OF  PRESSING 
WILD  FLOWERS 


"The  ancient  Greeks  called  the  world — Beauty." 

EMERSON. 

"A  gold  and  silver  cup 
Upon  a  pillar  green, 
Earth  holds  her  daisy  up 
To  catch  the  sunshine  in ; 

A  little  rounded  croft 

Where  winged  kine  may  graze ; 

A  golden  meadow  soft, 

Quadrille  ground  for  young  fays ; 

A  fenced-in  yellow  plot 

"With  pales  milk-white  and  clean, 

Each  tipt  with  crimson  spot 

And  set  in  ground  of  green." 

HENRY  S.  SUTTON. 


CHAPTER  VII 
THE  ART  OF  PRESSING  WILD  FLOWERS 

Press  immediately  after  identification — Frail  nature  of 
most  wild  flowers — Rules  for  pressing  plants — Un- 
natural, wizened  specimens  belonging  to  some 
naturalists — 'Dried  plants  must  not  resemble  scare- 
crows— Methods  of  pressing  plants — How  to  press 
knobby  flower-heads  successfully — Changing  the  dry- 
ing-papers— Pressing  fruits — Use  of  a  storing  press. 

WILD  flowers  should  be  pressed  as  soon  as  pos- 
sible after  gathering  or  identification,  for  many 
shed  their  petals  so  quickly  that  if  this  opera- 
tion is  delayed  a  day,  much  time  and  trouble 
may  be  wasted. 

A  great  deal  depends  upon  the  condition  of 
the  plants  when  gathered  and  also  upon  the 
weather.  A  fully  blown  rose  will  shed  its 
petals  in  a  few  hours,  and  a  younger  one  that 
has  been  dashed  by  the  rain  will  behave  in 
the  same  way.  Rockroses  and  Cranes'  Bills 
are  notorious  offenders,  for  they  drop  to  pieces 
very  soon  after  gathering.  Plantains  and 
Goldenrod  and  especially  Orchids  conduct 

117 


118     WILD  FLOWER  PRESERVATION 

themselves  in  a  more  seemly  manner ;  but  the 
rule  is  that  plants  should  remain  in  water  for 
as  short  a  time  as  possible.  The  sooner  a  plant 
is  pressed  the  better  it  will  look  when  mounted, 
and  the  longer  it  is  in  water  the  greater  the  risk 
of  failure. 

The  following  rules  should  be  remembered 
when  pressing  flowers : — 

1.  Plants  should  be  pressed  as  soon  as  pos- 
sible after  gathering. 

2.  The  press,   drying-paper   and   folders, 
scissors,  penknife,  paint-brush,  etc.,  should  be 
at  hand. 

3.  Press  two  of  each  species,  taking  the 
frailest  flowers  first. 

4.  When  pressing  plants  arrange  them  ac- 
cording to  their  natural  manner  of  growth. 

5.  Arrange  plants  with  the  paint-brush, 
touching  them  with  the  fingers  as  little  as  pos- 
sible. 

6.  Tear  a  few  sheets  of  blotting-paper  into 
tiny  snippets  and  use  these  to  separate  over- 
lapping petals,  and  to  equalize  pressure  round 
thickened   stems   or   flower-heads:    or   small 


PRESSING  WILD  FLOWERS        119 

pieces  of  newspaper,  folded  to  the  desired 
thickness,  may  be  used. 

7.  Do   not    stint   the   drying-papers    and 
change  these  frequently. 

8.  Use  at  least  two  driers  between  each 
plant  and  its  neighbor.    Knobby  plants  will 
require  more. 

9.  Do  not  allow  the  papers  to  slip  when 
strapping  up  the  press. 

10.  Do  not  put  the  press  under  too  great  a 
weight  at  first.    Increase  the  pressure  after 
changing  the  drying-papers. 

11.  Damp  papers  should  be  dried  and  stored 
in  a  drawer  for  future  use. 

12.  Plants  must  never  be  removed  from  the 
press  before  they  are  absolutely  dry.    When 
dry  they  are  better  mounted  as  soon  as  possible, 
as  they  grow  more  and  more  brittle  with  age. 

13.  Botanists  with  no  leisure  for  mounting 
in  addition  to  pressing  should  remove  all  dry 
plants  to  a  storing-press,  where  they  may  re- 
main in  safety  until  the  winter. 

You  will  find  more  or  less  meager  directions 
for  pressing  plants  in  several  good  Floras  and 


120     WILD  FLOWER  PRESERVATION 

botanical  text-books ;  but  if  naturalists  would 
take  the  operation  more  seriously,  we  should 
see  far  lovelier  botanical  specimens  than  is 
usually  the  case.  Hurriedly  pressed  plants 
very  rarely  turn  out  well. 

A  few  years  ago  an  enthusiastic  botanist 
asked  me  to  look  over  his.  collection  of  rare 
species.  A  mighty  portfolio  was  dragged  from 
its  place,  large  mounts  were  tenderly  handled, 
and  the  learned  one  proceeded  to  declaim  upon 
the  rarity  of  the  specimens,  their  wonderful 
construction  and  their  exceeding  beauty. 

Poor,  wretched,  wizened  things!  They 
might  have  been  rare,  no  doubt  they  were  won- 
derful, but  their  beauty  had  so  completely  de- 
parted that  my  imagination  was  unequal  to  the 
task  of  calling  up  the  vision  of  what  "  might 
have  been";  besides  which,  I  was  cudgeling 
my  brains  for  suitable  yet  truthful  answers  to 
the  poor  man's  raptures.  I  was  gazing  at  a 
scare-crow,  ugly  enough  to  strike  terror  into 
the  breast  of  the  most  impudent  of  little  spar- 
rows, while  a  story  of  the  plant's  extraordinary 
beauty  was  being  poured  into  my  ears.  The 
situation  had  its  difficulties ! 


PRESSING  WILD  FLOWERS        121 

Then  we  passed  on  to  the  next  specimen. 
Was  it  a  miniature  sign-post?  Before  me  lay 
a  bare,  thick  stalk  destitute  of  leaves  or 
branches  until  two  inches  from  the  top,  where 
two  maimed  arms  pointed  despairingly  to  right 
and  left.  In  the  lower  left-hand  corner  lay  a 
strange-looking  object  that  I  made  out  to  be  a 
leaf — pressed  separately  to  show  the  poor 
thing  bore  leaves  after  all.  I  looked  at  the 
tips  of  the  horizontal  branches  almost  expect- 
ing to  read  there,  "One  step  to  somewhere  else. 
Ten  miles  to  anywhere,"  for  the  whole  plant 
looked  so  cynical. 

"Kare,  rare,  extremely  rare!"  the  old  man 
murmured  ecstatically,  while  a  boy  friend  mut- 
tered, "What  a  freak!"  in  that  sepulchral  un- 
dertone so  beloved  of  schoolboys. 

Pressed  wild  flowers  can  easily  be  made  to 
look  like  flowers  and  really  ought  to  be  distin- 
guishable from  scare-crows  and  sign-posts ;  yet 
they  too  often  resemble  these  useful  objects,  for 
their  petals  and  leaves  are  mangled  out  of  all 
recognition  and  their  branches  spread  out  at 
impossible  angles.  They  remind  one  of  the 
strange  drawings  of  little  children,  with  the  all 


122     WILD  FLOWER  PRESERVATION 

too  necessary  titles :  ' '  This  is  a  man, "  '  *  This 
is  a  cow. ' ' 

Bare  plants,  however  crumpled  and  faded, 
have  a  certain  interest  for  enthusiasts,  but  the 
ordinary  flower-lover  does  not  appreciate 
them ;  so  that  if  you  want  an  attractive  collec- 
tion you  must  learn  how  to  avoid  brown  Ane- 
mones and  green  Buttercups  and  all  other 
freaks  of  this  kind. 

When  you  have  identified  your  plants  and 
decorated  unfamiliar  ones  with  name-tickets, 
see  that  your  press  and  all  other  necessities  are 
at  hand. 

Unstrap  and  open  the  press;  place  two 
sheets  of  drying-paper  on  the  lower  board. 
Take  a  folder  from  the  pile  and  write  on  it  the 
name  and  the  date  and  place  of  collection  of 
the  plant  you  are  about  to  put  in  it,  or,  if  you 
are  using  numbers,  the  number  under  which 
its  record  appears  in  your  note-book.  If  your 
folders  are  made  of  old  newspapers  and  there 
is  no  margin  on  which  to  write,  this  informa- 
tion may  be  put  on  a  separate  slip  of  paper  but 
you  must  be  careful  not  to  lose  or  misplace  it. 
This  done,  place  the  open  folder  on  the  drying- 


PRESSING  WILD  FLOWERS        123 

sheets  in  your  press,  with  the  folded  edge  at 
your  left. 

Take  a  plant  from  the  jar ;  dry  off.  any  mois- 
ture with  a  clean  rag,  and  place  the  plant  upon 
the  lower  page  of  the  folder.  If  it  fits  this 
it  should  also  look  well  upon  the  mount. 
When  the  press  measures  more  than  the 
mounts,  keep  a  mount  at  hand  and  place  the 
plant  upon  this,  so  that  you  may  judge  of  the 
effect.  It  is  useless  to  press  20-in.  plants  for 
16-in.  mounts,  and  the  former  are  far  less 
likely  to  be  damaged  if  cut  to  the  right  size  be- 
fore pressing  than  after  they  are  dry  and  brit- 
tle. I  strongly  advise  you  to  have  the  drying 
and  mounting  sheets  of  equal  sizes,  for  it  saves 
endless  time  and  trouble. 

If  a  plant  is  to  look  well  on  the  mount  it 
must  not  cover  too  large  a  portion  of  the  folder. 
Do  not  let  the  flower  come  close  to  the  upper 
edge  or  the  stalk  to  the  lower  one. 

When  plants  are  thick  and  bushy  some  of 
their  under  leaves  or  branches  may  be  cut 
away,  that  is,  those  springing  from  the  side  of 
the  stem  nearest  to  the  folder.  This  must 
never  be  done  where  it  is  avoidable,  and  must 


124     WILD  FLOWER  PRESERVATION 

never  be  overdone  or  the  plant  will  look  un- 
natural ;  but  almost  anything  is  preferable  to  a 
confused  mass  of  leaves  so  closely  overlapping 
that  all  ideas  of  form  and  arrangement  are 
lost.  Note  which  leaves  or  branches  may  be 
best  dispensed  with  and  snip  them  off  with  the 
scissors. 

Plants  must  be  pressed  in  natural  positions, 
so  that  when  gathering  them  you  should  notice 
how  they  grow.  Trailing  plants  must  trail  in 
the  press  or  they  will  never  do  so  on  the 
mounts.  Drooping  flowers  must  droop  and 
not  be  tortured  into  a  vertical  position ;  while 
those  whose  growth  is  severely  upright  should 
be  pressed  and  mounted  in  this  way  and  not  in 
a  slanting  line  across  the  paper.  Plants  are 
sometimes  found  growing  in  an  unusual  way, 
but  the  characteristic  growth  is  the  one  that 
should  be  chosen  for  the  herbarium. 

Look  at  the  wizened  little  piece  of  Wild 
Yamroot  shown  at  the  left  of  Plate  VII,  and 
imagine  what  effect  a  number  of  such  objects 
would  have  upon  your  spirits !  Yet  this  is  the 
way  many  people  press  and  mount  their  speci- 
mens. The  plant  looks  like  some  poor  victim 


PLATE  VII. — WILD  YAM-ROOT. 

Rightly     and     wrongly     preserved. 
(From    a    photograph.) 


PRESSING  WILD  FLOWERS        125 

strapped  down  for  dissection ;  while  tlie  other, 
though  flat-looking  and  not  to  be  compared 
with  the  living,  waving  trails  of  the  thicket, 
still  gives,  by  its  graceful  lines,  the  idea  of  a 
wild  rambling  plant.  Dried  plants  can  never 
look  like  pictures  of  living  ones,  and  it  would 
be  absurd  to  expect  this,  for  after  pressure  the 
rounded  stems  and  folding,  curving  leaves 
become  flat  and  severe,  and  until  a  preserva- 
tive is  discovered,  some  of  the  more  delicate 
colors  are  bound  to  fade.  But  with  careful  ar- 
rangement and  pressing  many  very  lovely 
specimens  may  be  obtained,  and  comparatively 
few  plants  will  change  color. 

When  the  plant  is  laid  out  on  the  drying- 
paper  some  of  its  leaves  and  flowers  will  lie 
sideways  and  others  "face"  downwards. 
Press  them  in  these  positions  and  you  will  have 
a  far  more  natural  plant  than  if  every  part  had 
been  arranged  "full-face."  Many  botanists 
press  the  roots  also,  and  in  small  plants  like 
the  Anemones  and  Purple  Gerardia  this  is 
easily  done;  but  the  roots  of  tall  growing 
species  need  to  be  cut  off  and  mounted  sepa- 
rately at  the  lower  side  of  the  main  portion  (see 


126     WILD  FLOWER  PRESERVATION 

Plate  VIII,  Purple  Iris) .  Instead  of  cutting 
the  stem,  professional  botanists  bend  it 
sharply  into  the  shape  of  an  inverted  V  or 
even  an  N  if  it  is  very  long,  thus  making  the 
doubled-up  plant  short  enough  to  go  on  the 
mounting-sheet.  This  method  has  the  advan- 
tage of  honesty  and  scientific  accuracy;  it 
proves  that  no  part  of  the  plant  has  been  re- 
moved or  otherwise  tampered  with;  but,  of 
course,  it  does  make  some  portion  of  your  plant 
lie  upside  down  and  your  specimens  look  rather 
as  if  a  mischievous  small  boy  had  knocked 
them  over  with  a  stick. 

If  the  plant  will  not  lie  of  itself  as  you  want 
it,  hold  the  upper  page  of  the  folder  in  the  left 
hand,  arrange  the  stem  and  open  the  leaves  and 
petals  with  the  paint-brush  while  gradually 
covering  the  plant  with  the  paper  as  it  is  pre- 
pared with  the  brush. 

The  best  method  with  some  plants  may  be  to 
cover  each  leaf  and  flower  with  separate  snip- 
pets of  blotting-paper ;  to  hold  a  group  of  such 
snippets  in  place  by  a  larger  piece ;  and  to  se- 
cure the  two  or  three  larger  pieces  by  the  final 
closing  of  the  folder.  This  sounds  fussy,  but 


PLATE  VIII.— PURPLE  IRIS. 

How  to  arrange  tall   growing  plants   for   preservation. 


PRESSING  WILD  FLOWERS         127 

the  results  fully  justify  all  the  care  and  trouble 
involved.  Several  snippets  are  sometimes 
used  for  one  flower.  They  act  as  pads  round 
knobby  stigmas  and  prevent  the  upper  petals 
being  torn  by  lying  directly  over  these.  As 
the  stigma  is  pressed  flatter  and  flatter,  these 
snippets  will  be  removed  one  by  one  when  the 
drying-sheets  are  changed. 

In  the  case  of  a  Buttercup,  for  instance,  you 
will  slip  a  tiny  piece  of  blotting-paper  between 
the  upper  petals  and  those  lying  immediately 
upon  the  folder.  A  second  snippet  will  cover 
the  upper  petals.  Each  flower  will  be  sepa- 
rately treated,  but  fully  opened  ones  will  re- 
quire only  one  piece,  and  as  these  are  laid  down 
the  upper  petals  should  be  stroked  open  with 
the  brush.  Begin  at  the  left ;  when  the  flowers 
and  leaves  nearest  this  side  have  been  treated, 
it  is  wise  to  cover  them  with  a  part  of  the  upper 
page  of  the  folder  before  treating  the  rest.  It 
may  be  held  in  place  with  the  left  wrist  and 
fore-arm  while  the  fingers  of  the  left  hand  hold 
its  upper  edge  and  guide  it  further  and  further 
over  the  plant  as  the  right  hand  prepares  the 
flowers  and  leaves.  If  the  leaf  segments  are 


128     WILD  FLOWER  PRESERVATION 

beginning  to  curl,  tiny  strips  of  blotting-paper 
will  be  useful  for  treating  the  parts  separately ; 
but  if  the  plant  is  fairly  fresh  the  paint-brush 
is  generally  enough,  and  each  segment  can  be 
stroked  open  as  the  upper  sheet  descends  upon 
it. 

You  will  want  two  pairs  of  hands  at  first,  but 
a  little  practice  will  soon  give  the  knack  of  the 
method.  A  book  may  sometimes  take  the  place 
of  your  left  wrist,  and  long  adhesive  strips  can 
be  used  to  hold  the  snippets  down. 

When  the  plant  is  covered  by  the  upper 
page  of  the  folder,  place  two  driers  on  it. 
More  should  be  used  over  and  under  thick  and 
wiry  or  very  fleshy  plants. 

Another  folder  is  now  laid  on  these  driers 
and  the  next  plant  arranged  in  it.  Build  up 
your  pile  carefully  and  see  that  no  slipping 
occurs. 

When  all  the  flowers  have  been  pressed  in 
the  same  manner,  place  the  upper  press  board 
upon  the  top  of  the  pile.  Arrange  the  straps 
on  the  floor ;  lift  the  pile  onto  these  and  secure 
the  press.  This  needs  to  be  done  very  care- 


PRESSING  WILD  FLOWERS         129 

fully,  for  jerky,  rough  pulling  or  unequal 
strapping  may  undo  much  of  the  previous 
work.  Never  pull  either  strap  to  its  tightest 
while  the  other  is  unbuckled.  Secure  one 
first,  then  the  other,  leaving  both  rather  slack 
and  taking  care  that  the  papers  do  not  slip. 
Next  tighten  the  first  strap  and  after  this  the 
second,  and  put  the  press  in  a  safe  place.  The 
pressure  should  not  be  too  great  at  first,  for 
while  plants  are  soft  and  full  of  sap  they  are 
very  easily  bruised.  It  is  hard  to  say  just 
how  much  should  be  applied,  for  it  varies  ac- 
cording to  the  kind  and  number  of  plants  you 
are  pressing.  Stiff  and  tough  plants  need 
more  than  delicate  ones  and  a  big  pile  more 
than  a  little  one.  Forty  pounds  is  usu- 
ally none  too  much ;  and  more  will  be  required 
for  a  very  full  press.  The  foot  is  a  handy  in- 
strument for  applying  pressure  and  the  straps, 
if  pulled  tight,  will  generally  hold  it  well 
enough  until  the  time  for  changing  driers. 
But  plants  shrink  somewhat  in  drying  and  the 
straps  will,  of  course,  not  follow  up  this  shrink- 
age. If  you  wish  to  be  doubly  sure  of  even 


130     WILD  FLOWER  PRESERVATION 

pressure,  you  can  place  weights  on  your  press. 
Old  pails  or  oil-cans  with  handles,  filled  with 
sand,  make  convenient  weights. 

There  are  a  few  plants  that  must  be  pressed 
in  the  fields,  for  it  is  generally  impossible  to 
do  so  by  the  time  home  is  reached.  Rockroses 
and  Cranes'  Bills  shed  their  petals  very 
quickly  and  all  species  of  the  Convolvulus  close 
up  soon  after  they  are  gathered;  and  what  is 
more,  they  absolutely  refuse  to  open  when 
placed  in  water,  but  sulk  until  they  die! 
Choose  a  warm,  still  day  for  securing  such 
specimens,  and  take  your  press,  note-book, 
paint-brush  and  magnifying-glass  with  you 
into  the  fields.  The  little  Hog  Peanut  may,  in 
spite  of  its  name,  be  made  to  look  most  attrac- 
tive when  pressed  with  the  grass  stem  round 
which  it  may  be  twining. 

When  pressing  Ox-eye  Daisies  and  other 
knobby  flower-heads,  cut  a  circle  of  blotting- 
paper  two  to  three  inches  in  diameter,  with 
a  circular  hole  in  the  middle,  so  that  when 
laid  over  the  flower-head  the  golden  disc  peeps 
through.  A  similar  circle  is  cut  in  cotton-wool 
or  wadding  and  laid  over  this  (see  Plate  IX) . 


PLATE  IX.— How  TO  PRESERVE  AN  OX-EYE  DAISY  SUCCESSFULLY 
WITH  BLOTTING-PAPER  AND  WADDING  CIRCLES. 


PRESSING  WILD  FLOWERS         131 

When  the  drying-sheets  are  placed  over  the 
plant,  the  white  ray-florets  will  then  receive 
equal  pressure  with  the  disc.  If  such  flowers 
are  pressed  in  the  ordinary  way,  the  disc 
breaks,  and  the  florets  of  the  ray,  through  re- 
ceiving little  or  no  pressure,  become  shriveled 
and  brown. 

Some  botanists  advise  twenty-four  hours 
pressure  before  the  first  change  of  the  drying- 
sheets,  while  others  give  twelve  as  the  correct 
interval.  The  truth  is  that  ''circumstances 
alter  cases. "  Most  yellow  flowers  and  dry 
plants  such  as  Buttercups  and  the  wiry  little 
Sandworts  may  be  left  quite  safely  for  twenty- 
four  hours.  Other  plants  should  receive  at- 
tention after  four  to  twelve  hours  if  you  wish 
to  preserve  as  much  of  their  color  and  beauty 
as  possible.  When  once  the  drying-papers 
have  become  damp,  no  good  can  result  from 
leaving  the  plants  between  them.  Damp 
papers  turn  Eoses  and  Cranes '  Bills  and  white 
flowers  brown,  and  mildew  very  quickly  makes 
its  appearance.  The  two  secrets  of  successful 
pressing  are:  (1)  natural  arrangement,  and 
(2)  frequent  changes  of  the  drying-papers. 


132     WILD  FLOWER  PRESERVATION 

Changing  the  drying-papers  is  an  operation 
that  requires  some  care,  but  it  is  by  no  means 
so  long  or  so  harassing  as  the  one  just  de- 
scribed. 

Place  the  press  upon  a  table  and  see  that  the 
paint-brush  and  plenty  of  fresh  drying-papers 
are  at  hand. 

First  carefully  unstrap  the  press  and,  re- 
moving the  top  board,  place  it  near  by  with  two 
fresh  driers  upon  it  ready  for  building  up  a 
new  pile  of  plants. 

The  damp  drying-sheets  are  now  removed 
from  the  pile  and  put  aside  to  be  dried  for  fu- 
ture use.  This  exposes  the  folder,  which  must 
be  opened  with  great  care.  The  right-hand 
edge  should  be  lifted  up  very  slowly  with  the 
fingers  of  the  left  hand,  and  if  any  part  of  the 
plant  beneath  adheres  to  this  upper  page  it 
should  be  released  by  soft  touches  with  the 
paint-brush  or,  if  this  is  not  sufficient,  with  the 
blade  of  a  penknife. 

When  this  upper  page  has  been  peeled  off, 
remove  any  snippets  one  by  one,  and  if 
either  petals  or  leaves  are  creased,  smooth 
these  out  with  the  brush.  Leaves  that  are 


PRESSING  WILD  FLOWERS         133 

badly  crumpled  may  be  smoothed  and  pressed 
out  by  a  moistened  finger.  Pass  the  tip  of  the 
fore-finger  over  a  wet  cloth  and  stroke  and 
press  the  leaf  into  shape  again.  Dipping  the 
finger  into  water  would  bring  too  much  mois- 
ture on  to  the  plant  and,  needless  to  say,  the 
finger  should  never  be  moistened  by  the  tongue. 

Now  that  the  plant  is  flatter  it  will  require 
fewer  snippets  to  keep  it  in  place  and,  as  a 
rule,  only  one  should  be  allowed  for  each  flower. 
Those  which  have  held  awkward  leaves  in 
place  can  usually  be  removed,  since  the  leaves 
will  have  lost  most  of  their  stiffness.  Knobby 
parts  must,  of  course,  be  surrounded  with  sev- 
eral snippets,  or  folded  pieces,  as  before. 
Plants  that  have  become  badly  creased  should 
be  thrown  away,  for  it  is  never  worth  while  to 
mount  such  specimens  unless  they  are  rare. 

When  all  has  been  arranged  and  damp  snip- 
pets exchanged  for  dry  ones,  close  the  folder, 
lift  it  with  the  plant  inside  on  to  the  fresh 
driers  made  ready  for  it,  cover  it  with  other 
driers  and  proceed  to  treat  the  remaining 
plants  in  the  same  manner.  The  pressure  may 
be  increased  by  tightening  the  straps  and  add- 


134     WILD  FLOWER  PRESERVATION 

ing  to  the  weights.  In  later  changes  of  driers 
it  will  often  not  be  necessary  to  open  the 
folders  at  all. 

All  damp  papers  should  be  dried  at  once, 
either  in  the  sun  or  by  a  fire;  and  when  dry 
they  should  be  shaken  free  from  any  dust  and 
put  away  in  a  drawer  for  future  use. 

Some  plants  require  many  changes  before 
they  are  fit  to  leave  the  press,  while  others 
are  ready  for  mounting  after  the  third  or 
fourth  change.  They  may  be  tested  by  lightly 
touching  with  the  back  of  the  hand.  I  once 
mounted  a  Parsnip  when  its  umbel  was  slightly 
damp.  The  stem  and  leaves  were  perfectly 
dry,  and  I  thought  the  clustered  flowers  might 
be  left  to  finish  off  in  the  herbarium.  A  fort- 
night later  I  had  occasion  to  look  at  this  plant. 
The  Parsnip  flowers  had  changed  their  yellow 
for  a  bright  grass-green,  and  over  the  whole 
cluster  a  fine  crop  of  mildew  had  grown  up ! 

Many  botanists  now  use,  in  place  of  one  of 
the  driers  over  each  specimen,  a  sheet  of  corru- 
gated board.  The  effect  of  this  is  to  ventilate 
the  pile  of  plants  and  if  the  press  can  be  put 
in  a  dry  place  in  the  sun  or  in  a  current  of 


PRESSING  WILD  FLOWERS         135 

warm  air,  it  hastens  the  drying  very  much. 
One  change  of  driers  is  usually  all  that  is  re- 
quired and  that  more  for  arranging  misplaced 
parts  of  the  plants  than  anything  else.  This 
method,  however,  loses  much  of  its  effective- 
ness in  wet  weather  or  in  a  damp  place,  unless 
artificial  heat  can  be  had. 

Directly  the  plants  are  dry  they  should  be 
removed  from  the  press  and  not  be  allowed  to 
remain  where  moisture  from  fresh,  damp 
plants  will  soak  into  them.  Place  them  in  a 
drawer  or  box  in  their  folders  and  mount  as 
soon  as  possible.  (They  should  not  lie  loose 
and  unmounted  for  more  than  four  days.) 
Only  one  plant  must  lie  in  each  folder  so  that 
no  two  touch,  for  dried  plants  are  exceedingly 
brittle  and  easily  chipped. 

So  far  the  directions  have  dealt  only  with 
the  pressing  of  the  plant  in  flower ;  but  as  each 
species  is  incomplete  without  its  fruit,  these 
must  be  gathered  and  pressed  in  their  seasons. 
Some  plants  "go  to  seed"  very  quickly,  and 
many  show  buds,  flowers  and  fruit  upon  the 
same  spray.  Others  do  not  mature  for  several 
months,  and  some  become  various  colors  in 


136     WILD  FLOWER  PRESERVATION 

turn  as  they  ripen.  Blackberries,  for  instance, 
are  green  in  the  first  stage,  crimson  in  the  sec- 
ond, and  black  in  the  third ;  and  the  Withe-rod 
has  berries  that  are  first  green,  then  pink,  and 
finally  blue.  The  fruit  of  the  Jack-in-the- 
Pulpit  changes  from  green  to  the  glowing  scar- 
let that  lights  up  the  dim  recesses  of  our 
wooded  swamps  in  late  summer  and  autumn; 
while  the  feathery  awns  of  the  Wild  Clematis 
turn  gradually  from  silky  bunches  of  silvery 
green  to  the  hoary  gray  masses  that  have  been 
so  quaintly  christened  "Old  Man's  Beard." 

All  these  fruiting  stages  should  be  repre- 
sented in  the  herbarium,  for  by  preserving  the 
life  story  of  every  plant  you  will  add  to  the 
beauty  and  interest  of  your  collection. 

Now  for  a  few  practical  words  about  the 
pressing  or  drying  of  these  fruits,  for,  as  you 
may  imagine,  it  is  not  always  an  easy  matter ! 
Berries  have  an  unpleasant  habit  of  bursting, 
or  breaking  away  from  their  attachment,  and 
some  are  so  hard  and  thick  that  pressure  seems 
out  of  the  question.  Seed-vessels,  too,  are 
often  as  hard  and  awkward  as  the  fruit  inside. 
No  one  rule  can  be  laid  down  for  the  treatment 


PRESSING  WILD  FLOWERS        137 

of  all.  Methods  must  be  adapted  to  individual 
requirements.  Soft  fruits  such  as  Black- 
berries, Jack-in-the-Pulpit  and  Strawberries 
should  be  dried  in  the  press,  but  the  surface 
surrounding  them  must  be  leveled  up  with 
blotting-paper  and  wadding.  The  pressure 
should  be  very  slight  and  the  drying-papers 
frequently  changed.  If  these  rules  are  neg- 
lected, the  result  will  be  little  patches  of  red 
and  black  pulp — and  such  things  hardly  add  in- 
terest or  beauty  to  one's  collection! 

The  thick  clusters  of  the  "  Jack's"  fruit 
may  be  considerably  thinned  out  by  removing 
the  under  berries  that  would  lie  immediately 
upon  the  mount.  Do  not  detach  too  many  or 
the  natural  effect  will  be  lost. 

Hard  fruits,  such  as  the  scarlet  and  crimson 
Hips  and  Haws,  should  be  fastened  on  to  cards 
with  a  needle  and  thread  and  placed  in  a  cool, 
dry  place  for  several  days.  The  thread  will 
prevent  the  stem  twisting  awkwardly  as  ft 
dries.  When  stalk  and  fruit  are  hard  and  stiff 
they  should  be  cut  from  their  moorings  and 
fastened  to  a  mount  with  a  few  touches  of  glue. 
While  this  fixative  is  drying,  the  plant  should 


138     WILD  FLOWER  PRESERVATION 

be  leveled  round  with  blotting  and  newspaper 
folds,  and  a  very  light  weight  may  be  placed  on 
the  top  of  the  pile.  There  must  be  sufficient 
pressure  to  hold  the  branch  in  place,  but  not 
enough  to  flatten  or  bruise  the  surface  of  the 
fruit. 

Some  seeds  and  seed-vessels  are  soft  and 
pliable  in  their  early  stages  and  easily  dried 
in  the  press,  while  maturer  fruit  from  the  same 
plant  may  become  hard  and  brittle,  or  woody, 
in  which  case  you  will  have  to  use  your  own 
discretion  about  drying  them  in  the  press  or 
on  a  card  as  the  Rose  Hips  are  done. 

The  pods  of  Wild  Lupine  are  soft  and  green 
at  first,  and  the  little  peas  inside  make  only  the 
tiniest  of  bulges  in  the  flat  surface  of  their 
cradles;  but  as  the  summer  days  go  by  both 
peas  and  pods  enlarge  and  harden  and  the 
tender  green  is  changed  for  black.  Later  still 
the  pods  split  up  the  back  and  front  and 
each  piece  curls  and  twists  as  the  peas  are  shot 
out  one  by  one.  At  their  largest  these  pods 
are  not  very  bulky,  and  as  the  leaves  are  still 
plentiful /on  the  stems  that  bear  the  fruit  it 
seems  a  pity  not  to  dry  the  branch  in  the  press. 


PRESSING  WILD  FLOWERS         139 

The  level  should  be  made  up  by  blotting-paper 
folds  or  wadding,  so  that  the  leaves  receive  suf- 
ficient pressure  to  keep  them  in  shape ;  but  the 
pressure  must  not  be  heavy  or  the  pods  will 
crack. 

Botanists  who  have  no  leisure  to  mount  their 
plants  during  the  spring  and  summer  should 
transfer  them  from  the  ordinary  press  to  a 
storing-press  where  they  may  be  safely  kept 
until  the  winter-time.  However  carefully 
dried  plants  are  laid  in  drawers  or  boxes,  their 
leaves  are  bound  to  curl  if  left  free  to  do  so  for 
more  than  three  or  four  days.  This  storing- 
press  should  consist  of  two  stout  pieces  of  card 
or  corrugated  board  and  a  folded  newspaper 
for  top  and  bottom.  Put  your  specimens  in 
their  folders  between  the  boards  and  secure 
with  tape  or  coarse  twine  tightly  tied.  Do  not 
apply  too  much  pressure ;  a  very  little  is  enough 
to  keep  leaves  from  curling  and  too  much  will 
break  the  brittle  plants.  Do  not  put  in  driers ; 
they  will  absorb  moisture  in  damp  weather  and 
mildew  and  discoloration  may  result. 

If  you  use  labels,  they  may  be  written  and 
placed  with  the  plants. 


MOUNTING 

THE 

PLANTS 


"Memories  dear  are  with  us  ever, 
Like  the  scent  of  roses  all  the  year. ' ' 


"God  has  given  us  our  memories  that  we  might  have 
roses  in  December." 


CHAPTER  VIII 
MOUNTING  THE  PLANTS 

Plants  must  not  be  left  long  unattached — Requisites  at 
hand  for  mounting — How  to  mount  the  plants — Pres- 
sure— Portions  not  adhering  to  be  refixed — Classifica- 
tion in  the  herbarium — Natural  growth  to  be  studied 
— How  to  mount  plants  in  albums — A  collection  of 
graceful,  natural-looking  plants — "Let  Nature  be 
your  teacher." 

MOUNTING  wild  flowers  is  an  ideal  occupation 
for  winter  evenings ;  but  it  must  not  be  post- 
poned until  then  unless  a  storing-press  is  used. 
Dry  plants  persist  in  curling  up  a  little  if  left 
unattached  and  without  pressure  for  more  than 
a  few  days. 

When  a  number  of  specimens  are  ready  for 
mounting,  place  the  box  or  storing-press  con- 
taining them  upon  a  large  table,  covering  the 
rest  of  its  surface  with  a  newspaper,  and 
arranging  the  following  articles  in  handy  posi- 
tions:— Glass  plate,  mounts  or  album,  large 
brush,  pot  of  glue  and  one  of  water,  or  better, 

143 


144     WILD  FLOWER  PRESERVATION 

vinegar,  scissors,  forceps,  drying-papers  or 
newspaper  pads,  a  few  sheets  of  card  or  corru- 
gated board  (and  your  press  if  it  is  not  in  use) 
and  a  weight  of  about  ten  pounds. 

Put  the  glass  plate  and  pile  of  mounts  side 
by  side  on  the  table.  Take  a  plant  from  the 
box  and,  placing  it  upon  a  mount,  arrange  it  to 
the  best  advantage,  remembering  its  natural 
mode  of  growth.  (Plates  X  and  XI  show  the 
results  of  right  and  wrong  methods  in  pressing 
and  mounting.)  Then  mark  with  a  pencil  a 
few  guiding  dots  to  show  the  position  of  the 
extreme  points  of  leaves  and  stem,  taking  care 
to  leave  room  for  the  label  at  the  lower  right- 
hand  corner. 

Now,  with  your  large  brush,  paint  the  glass 
over  with  a  thin  coat  of  glue.  Liquid  glue  as 
you  buy  it  is  usually  a  little  too  thick;  small 
parts  of  the  plants  are  liable  to  stick  in  it  and 
break  off.  'You  can  thin  it  to  the  required  con- 
sistency on  the  plate  by  dipping  your  brush 
first  in  glue  and  then  in  vinegar.  In  this  way 
you  can  also  vary  the  consistency  for  different 
plants.  Stout,  stiff  ones  need  thicker  glue  to 
hold  them  than  thin  and  delicate  ones. 


PLATE  X. — WOOD  SORREL. 

The    correct    method    and    the    "  Walking    Stick  "    method    of   mounting. 


MOUNTING  THE  PLANTS          145 

When  the  plate  is  covered  with  glue,  lay  the 
plant  on  it,  being  careful  to  put  it  "back" 
down — that  is,  the  side  which  is  to  go  next  the 
mount.  See  that  every  part  touches  the  glue ; 
push  down  gently  those  that  do  not  at  first. 
Then  with  the  forceps  or  your  fingers,  take  the 
plant  by  the  lower  part  of  the  stem,  lift  it  care- 
fully from  the  glass  (a  too  sudden  motion 
may  break  off  small  parts)  and  lay  it  on  the 
mount,  taking  care  to  observe  the  guiding  dots. 
If  you  are  using  felt-paper  driers,  lay  the 
empty  folder  over  the  plant  on  its  mount. 
Then  put  the  whole  on  one  of  the  sheets  of  card- 
board or  the  bottom  of  your  press,  cover  it  with 
a  drier  or  newspaper  pad,  smoothing  and  press- 
ing this  down  with  the  hands,  and  over  all  ar- 
range another  sheet  of  card-board  or  the  top 
of  your  press  and  the  weight. 

Brush  over  the  glass  with  fresh  glue  and 
proceed  as  before. 

Some  delicate  plants  dry  very  limp  and  are 
hard  to  transfer  from  the  gluing  plate  to  the 
mount.  For  such  cases,  it  is  well  to  have  at 
hand  an  old  mount  or  a  piece  of  newspaper  cut 
to  size,  on  which  the  plant  should  be  laid  care- 


146     WILD  FLOWER  PRESERVATION 

fully  glued  side  up.  It  can  then  be  arranged 
as  you  wish  it  without  sticking  in  inconvenient 
places.  When  tliis  is  done,  lay  the  mount  on 
it,  press  down  lightly  with  the  hand,  turn  over 
the  " plant  sandwich"  thus  formed,  peel  off  the 
old  mount  and  you  have  your  specimen 
mounted  as  it  should  be. 

Each  plant  as  it  is  added  to  the  pile  should 
be  covered  by  a  drier  or  folds  of  newspaper 
and,  if  it  is  at  all  knobby  or  twiggy,  by  card 
sheets,  lest  these  thick  parts  should  leave  an 
impression  upon  the  mounts  above  and  below 
them.  Clean  paper  must  cover  each  plant, 
since  if  this  sticks  at  all  it  is  easily  removed 
with  a  penknife,  whereas  the  gray  drying- 
paper  might  leave  an  unsightly  mark. 

The  plants  should  now  be  left  under  pressure 
for  several  hours,  after  which  they  must  be 
carefully  examined.  Any  leaf  or  petal  not  ad- 
hering must  be  cautiously  lifted  and  retouched 
with  glue  by  sliding  a  small  brush  under  it  and 
the  plant  pressed  as  before.  If  this  is  neg- 
lected, such  parts  will  chip  off  and  the  whole 
plant  will  be  spoilt.  When  thick  stems  refuse 
to  adhere  they  should  be  treated  with  thicker 


MOUNTING  THE  PLANTS          147 

glue.  If  the  twigs  are  too  bent  to  lie  flat  upon 
the  mount  they  may  be  held  in  place  by  narrow 
strips  of  gummed  paper  or  plaster,  and  ends 
of  stems  which  are  likely  to  spring  up  when  the 
mounts  are  handled  should  also  be  so  secured. 
Use  only  enough  strips  to  hold  the  specimen 
firmly  in  place ;  too  many  make  the  plant  look 
like  some  bandaged  victim. 

This  is  a  good  time  to  write  the  labels,  if  you 
have  not  done  so  already,  and  to  attach  them ; 
and  for  this  purpose  your  Flora  and  note-book 
should  be  at  hand.  If  you  write  directly  on 
the  mount,  this  is  the  most  convenient  time  to 
do  it ;  but  if  you  use  detached  labels  they  may  be 
written  before  mounting  and  attached  when 
you  glue  the  plants. 

When  every  part  of  a  plant  is  adhering  to 
the  mount  it  should  be  put  away  in  the  herbar- 
ium case  or  boxes  and  the  plants  should  be 
classified  as  far  as  possible  from  the  beginning. 
As  time  goes  on  and  more  and  more  specimens 
are  added  to  the  collection,  they  should  be  ar- 
ranged not  only  according  to  their  Families, 
but  also  according  to  their  Genera.  Meadow- 
sweet, Blackberry,  Avens,  Wild  Strawberry, 


148     WILD  FLOWER  PRESERVATION 

Cinquefoil,  Agrimony  and  Wild  Rose  all  be- 
long to  the  Family  Rosaceae,  but  each  repre- 
sents a  separate  Genus  in  that  Family.  All  of 
one  Genus  should  be  together  and  the  Genera 
should  follow  one  another  in  the  same  order  as 
that  given  in  the  Flora. 

Specimens  belonging  to  the  same  Family 
and,  as  the  collection  grows,  those  belonging  to 
the  same  Genus,  should  be  put  in  a  genus-cover 
(a  folder  of  stout  manila  or  tag  paper,  slightly 
larger  than  the  mounting-sheets  when  folded) 
and  the  name  of  the  Family  or  Genus  written 
in  the  lower  left-hand  corner.  These  covers 
are  of  great  service  in  protecting  specimens  in 
handling,  especially  when  a  few  are  drawn  out 
from  the  middle  of  a  pile. 

Reference  was  made  just  now  to  the  neces- 
sity of  mounting  plants  according  to  their  man- 
ner of  growth.  They  may  have  been  pressed 
naturally,  but  unless  they  are  arranged  upon 
the  mount  in  a  natural  position  half  the  beauty 
of  your  collection  will  be  lost.  I  have  seen 
such  erect  plants  as  Agrimony,  Yarrow  and 
the  Willow  Herbs  placed  in  a  slanting  line 
across  the  mount,  either  for  the  sake  of  in- 


PLATE  XI. — PALE  SPIKED  LOBELIA. 

The    "  sign-post    method  "    of    mounting    and    the    correct    one. 
(From   a   photograph.) 


COUNTING  THE  PLANTS          149 

eluding  an  extra  inch  of  stalk  or  from  a  false 
idea  of  its  being  a  more  artistic  method.  The 
type  of  mind  that  delights  in  such  arrange- 
ments can  never  endure  the  obvious  and  the 
simple.  It  delights  in  having  photo-frames 
and  books  placed  criss-cross  upon  a  table,  while 
cushions  cannot  be  allowed  to  repose  naturally 
upon  their  sides,  but  must,  instead,  bal- 
ance skittishly  upon  one  of  their  corners. 
Now,  if  you  prefer  cushions  standing  upon  tip- 
toe, by  all  means  place  them  in  that  way ;  but 
you  must  not  arrange  your  dried  plants  after 
the  same  rule !  Erect  plants  must  be  mounted 
in  an  erect  position,  and  those  that  bend  and 
curve  when  growing  must  do  so  upon  the 
mount.  Long,  creeping  plants  should  be  ar- 
ranged with  their  stems  parallel  with  the 
longer  side  of  the  mount,  the  latter  being 
turned  round  so  that  what  was  the  left-hand 
side  becomes  the  bottom.  In  such  cases  the 
label  should  come  at  the  top  right  corner.  If 
this  rule  is  kept,  the  labels  will  lie  immediately 
under  one  another  in  the  herbarium  and  so 
make  references  to  it  both  quick  and  easy. 
Some  plants,  such  as  Little  Sun-drops  and 


150     WILD  FLOWER  PRESERVAT 


S"_r^  ..  -.-:  l'~  ^  ::-.  ::-r  .-:^:>  '.  :~:  ±.~~:-  in: 
the  iHtfllMr  SpfSfWm  JEFMI  WnGDCVCX*  pOS*~ 

in  Tri- 


to  othenL    The  fnifb  of  other 
most  be  gathered  in  their 


like  the  S 

and  fnrit  may  be  mounted  aide  by  aide 

graphed  in  Plate  XLL 

JL     ~  .:  1-1  •:"!-•;        _  —  S—   ".•' 


s*r:j.  5  >:  i  •r"in_n-rii  r.  iT-rr  'JT 
These  strips  most  be  spor- 
placed  only  where  they  are  of 
real  use.  The  plants  may  then  be  moored  at 
::i/  ILL:-::  :•".  ij:_  ;:.;:•;:  i::'iLt=  •:  r  *:  .ari'-rr  ?...- 
bums  by  earefuDy  cntttng  away  the  strips. 
If  there  is  no  wish  to  remore  them,  fliey  may 
be  seenred  by  g^oe  in  the  ordinary  way;  but 
only  one  side  of  each  page  most  be  used,  or  the 
plants  wiD  touch  and  injure  each  other. 
Plants  seenred  by  gjoe  are  far  less  likely  to  be 
chipped  than  those  Oat  are  merely  held  in 
place  by  adhesive  strips. 
After  filling  a  p&ge  with  *i^'*'J"N^B|^  the 


MOUNTING  THE  PLANTS          151 

album  must  be  put  under  pressure  until  the 
glue  is  dry  and  every  plant  is  adhering  per- 
fectly. Inequalities  of  thickness  caused  by 
stout  stems  or  flower-heads  are  more  awkward 
to  deal  with  in  albums  than  when  separate 
mounts  are  used ;  and  as  plants  will  not  adhere 
without  equal  pressure  upon  every  part,  the 
level  must  be  made  up  by  placing  folds  of 
blotting-paper  over  the  thinner  portions. 
When  the  plants  are  perfectly  dry  and  secure 
— and  not  before  then — the  next  page  may  be 
Med. 

An  album  of  dried  plants  may  be  a  very 
dainty  and  interesting  possession,  or  merely  a 
hopeless  collection  of  dreary-looking  objects 
resembling  a  scattered  and  flattened  out  rub- 
bish heap  more  than  anything  else!  Every- 
thing depends  upon  natural  and  careful  press- 
ing and  mounting.  Do  not  overcrowd  the 
book,  for  the  result  will  be  confusion.  Leave 
restful  spaces  between  the  groups,  and  let  trail- 
ing plants  trail  as  they  will  across  the  pages, 
even  if  they  seem  to  take  up  an  extravagant 
amount  of  room. 

Nature    cannot    bear    to    be    stifled    and 


152     WILD  FLOWER  PRESERVATION 

cramped.  She  is  ever  fighting  against  it.  See 
how  the  plants  push  up  to  the  light  and  the  air. 
Notice  how  eagerly  they  clamber  through  and 
over  the  bushy  thickets,  already  so  full  of  com- 
peting life,  and  once  free  of  the  thick  shrub- 
bery, how  luxuriantly  they  wave  in  the  free- 
dom of  the  upper  air,  bending  and  swaying 
with  every  passing  breeze  and  almost  laughing 
in  the  sunshine ! 

"For  'tis  my  faith  that  every  flower 
Enjoys  the  air  it  breathes." 


A  GLOSSARY 
OF  BOTANICAL 

TERMS 


"And  the  earth  brought  forth  grass,  and  herb  yielding 
seed  after  his  kind,  and  the  tree  yielding  fruit,  whose  seed 
was  in  itself,  after  his  kind :  and  God  saw  that  it  was  good. 

"And  the  evening  and  the  morning  were  the  third 
day." 

GENESIS  i.  12,  13. 

"Where  does  the  wisdom  and  the  power  divine 
In  a  more  bright  and  sweet  reflection  shine  ? 
Where  do  we  finer  strokes  and  colors  see 
Of  the  Creator's  real  poetry, 
Than  when  we  with  attention  look 
Upon  the  third  day's  volume  of  the  book? 

But  we  despise  these  His  inferior  ways 
(Though  no  less  full  of  miracle  and  praise) : 
Upon  the  flowers  of  heaven  we  gaze ; 
The  stars  of  earth  no  wonder  in  us  raise, 

Although  no  parts  of  mighty  nature  be 
More  stored  with  beauty,  power,  and  mystery. ' ' 
ABRAHAM  COWLEY,  Gardens. 


CHAPTER  IX 
A  GLOSSARY  OF  BOTANICAL  TERMS 

Various  roots— Stems — Leaves — Leaf  arrangements — 
The  inflorescence — The  flower  and  its  parts — Various 
forms  of  the  corolla — Fertilization — Fruits — The 
seed — The  embryo. 

NOTE. — The  definitions  in  this  Glossary  are  based, 
mostly,  upon  those  found  in  Bentham  and  Hooker's 
"British  Flora";  but  they  have  been  greatly  simplified 
and  only  the  terms  most  commonly  used  have  been  in- 
cluded. 

ROOTS. 

A  ROOT  is  that  part  of  a  plant  which  descends 
into  the  earth  and  draws  up  nourishment  from 
it.  It  also  fixes  the  plant  securely  in  the 
ground. 

A  Fibrous  Root  is  one  that  is  made  up  of 
fibers.  (1) 

Tuberous  Roots  are  mainly  composed  of 
short,  thickened  portions  called  tubers.  (2) 

Tap  Roots  are  of  tapering,  conical  shape,  and 
they  give  off  small  fibers.  (3) 

155 


156     WILD  FLOWER  PRESERVATION 

STEMS. 

The  stem  is  the  ascending  axis  of  a  plant, 
bearing  the  branches,  leaves,  flowers,  and  fruit. 
It  is  through  the  stem  that  the  nourishment 
taken  up  by  the  root  is  distributed  as  sap,  first 
to  the  leaves,  and  afterwards  to  the  various 
other  growing  organs  of  the  plant. 

Nodes  are  the  points  on  stems  at  which  leaves 
or  branches  are  given  off. 

Internodes  are  the  spaces  between  the  nodes. 
(4) 

Stems  are  said  to  be — 

Erect,  when  they  grow  in  an  upright  posi- 
tion. (5) 

Decumbent,  when  the  lower  portion  trails  on 
the  ground,  and  the  upper  curves  to  an  erect 
position.  (6) 

(Procumbent,  when  the  greater  part  trails 
on  the  ground.) 

Creeping,  when  they  trail  on  the  ground  and 
give  off  roots  at  the  nodes.  (7) 

Climbing,  when  they  support  their  increas- 
ing length  by  catching  on  to  other  objects  by 
means  of  hooks  or  prickles,  (A)  ;  by  tendrils 


PLATE  XIII.— FIGS.  1-6. 


PLATE  XIV.— FIGS.  7-9. 


GLOSSARY  OF  BOTANICAL  TERMS     157 

(B)  ;  by  twisting  leaf -stems,  (c)  ;  or  by  aerial 
rootlets,  (D).  (8) 

Twining,  when  they  twist  themselves  round 
a  support,  sometimes  the  stem  of  a  stronger 
plant.  (9) 

LEAVES. 

Leaves  digest  the  nourishment  carried  to 
them  by  the  stems,  absorb  carbonic  acid  gas, 
breathe  out  oxygen,  and  give  back  the  assimi- 
lated sap  to  the  stems. 

The  Blade  is  the  main  part  of  a  leaf. 

The  Base  is  the  end  by  which  it  is  attached 
to  the  stem. 

The  Apex  is  the  opposite  end. 

The  Margin  is  the  edge. 

The  Mid-rib  is  the  principal  vein  which  runs 
from  stem  to  apex. 

The  Petiole  is  the  leaf -stalk  by  which  a  leaf 
is  attached  to  the  stem.  (10) 

LEAF  ATTACHMENT 
Leaves  are  said  to  be — 
Sessile,  when  the  blade  sits  directly  on  the 
stem  and  has  no  leaf -stem  (petiole)  of  its  own. 

(ID 


158     WILD  FLOWER  PRESERVATION 

Amplexicaul,  when  the  base  of  the  blade 
clasps  the  stem.  (12) 

Perfoliate,  when  the  base  of  the  blade  closes 
round  the  stem.  (13) 

Decurrent,  when  the  margins  of  the  blade 
continue  along  the  stem.  (14) 

Sheathing,  when  the  base  of  the  blade  or  the 
expanded  leaf-stalk  forms  a  sheath  or  covering 
round  the  stem  from  the  node  upwards.  (15) 

LEAF  POSITION. 

Leaves  are  said  to  be — 

Radical,  when  they  spring  directly  from  the 
root. 

Cauline,  when  they  spring  from  the  stems. 

Both  may  occur  upon  the  same  plant.  In 
some  cases  the  radical  and  cauline  leaves  are 
very  similar  to  each  other,  while  in  others 
they  are  entirely  different,  as  in  the  Cuckoo 
Flower.  (16) 

LEAF  ARRANGEMENT 

Leaves  are  said  to  be — 
Opposite,  when  two  spring  from  the  same 
node  on  opposite  sides  of  the  stem.  (17) 


> 


Petiok 


10  11 


IX, 


11 


PLATE  XV.— FIGS.  10-15. 


17 


iq 


PLATE  XVI. — FIGS.  16-20. 


GLOSSARY  OF  BOTANICAL  TERMS     159 

Decussate,  when  each  opposite  pair  is  at 
right  angles  to  the  pairs  next  above  and  below 
it.  (18) 

Whorled,  when  several  spring  from  each 
node,  radiating  from  the  stem  as  spokes  do 
from  the  hub  of  a  wheel.  (19) 

Alternate,  when  only  one  springs  from  each 
node,  and  always  from  a  different  side  of  the 
stem  to  those  immediately  above  and  below  it. 
(20) 

LEAF  FORMS. 
Simple  Leaves. 

Simple  Leaves  consist  of  one  piece  only, 
whether  undivided  or  cut  up  into  lobes  or  seg- 
ments. 

Lobed,  when  cut  more  or  less  deeply  into 
lobes.  (21) 

Pinnatifid,  when  the  lobes  are  divided  nearly 
to  the  mid-rib,  in  a  feather-like  manner.  (22) 

Divided,  when  the  lobes  divide  to  the  mid- 
rib, but  cannot  be  separated  from  the  leaf -stalk 
without  tearing  the  blade.  (23) 


160     WILD  FLOWER  PRESERVATION 

Compound  Leaves. 

Compound  Leaves  are  divided  down  to  the 
mid-rib  into  separate  Leaflets,  each  of  which 
may  be  separated  from  the  leaf-stalk  without 
tearing  the  blades. 

Trifoliate,  consisting  of  three  leaflets  spring- 
ing from  a  common  center.  (24) 

Palmate,  consisting  of  several  leaflets 
springing  from  a  common  center.  (25) 

Pinnate,  divided  into  several  leaflets  spring- 
ing from  either  side  of  the  leaf -stalk  in  a  feath- 
er-like manner.  (26) 

Interruptedly  Pinnate,  having  a  smaller 
pair  of  leaflets  between  each  larger  pair.  (27) 

Abruptly  Pinnate,  finishing  abruptly  with  a 
pair  of  leaflets ;  having  no  single,  terminal  leaf- 
let. (28) 

LEAF  OR  LEAFLET  MARGINS. 

Leaf  or  leaflet  margins  may  be — 
Entire,  not  indented  in  any  way.  (29) 
Serrate,  cut  into  saw-like  teeth.  (30) 
Crenate,  cut  into  rounded  teeth.  (31) 


2,2.  3.3 


2.3 


PLATE  XVII.— FIGS.  21-28. 


PLATE  XVIII.— FIGS.  29-36. 


GLOSSARY  OF  BOTANICAL  TERMS     161 

LEAP  SHAPES. 

Leaves,  leaflets,  and  other  flat  organs  of 
plants  may  be — 

Linear,  narrow;  at  least  four  times  as  long 
as  the  width  and  with  parallel  margins.  (32) 

Lanceolate,  lance-shaped ;  broadest  about  the 
middle  and  tapering  at  both  ends.  (33) 

Ovate,  egg-shaped ;  the  larger  end  at  the  base. 
(34) 

Obovatc,  inversely  egg-shaped;  the  larger 
end  at  the  top.  (35) 

Reniform,  kidney-shaped.  (36) 

Cordate,  heart-shaped.  (37) 

Obcordate,  inversely  heart-shaped.  (38) 

Sagittate,  when  the  base  is  shaped  like  an 
arrow-head,  the  lobes  taking  a  downward  posi- 
tion. (39A) 

Hastate,  when  the  lobes  at  the  base  of  the 
leaf  point  outwards  in  the  form  of  a  halbert. 
(39B) 

(Many  sagittate  leaves  vary  to  hastate  on  the 
same  plant.) 


162     WILD  FLOWER  PRESERVATION 

SCALES,  BRACTS,  AND  STIPULES. 

Scales  are  small  organs,  generally  sessile, 
having  a  superficial  resemblance  to  leaves. 
They  are  seldom  capable  of  the  same  functions, 
and  generally  differ  in  color  and  texture. 
When  serving  to  protect  young  shoots  they  usu- 
ally overlap  like  the  scales  of  a  fish  or  the  tiles 
of  a  roof. 

This  arrangement  is  known  as  Imbricated. 
(40) 

Bracts  are  small  upper  leaves  on  the  flower- 
stem,  sometimes  only  those  Immediately  below 
the  flower.  They  are  generally  sessile,  and 
also  differ  from  the  other  leaves  in  shape  and 
arrangement,  and  often  in  color.  (41) 

A  Spathe  is  a  bract  enfolding  the  flowers  of 
certain  plants.  (42) 

An  Involucre  is  a  ring  of  bracts  round  the 
base  of  a  flower  cluster;  or  it  may  consist  of 
many  rings  closely  overlapping  each  other 
round  the  base  of  a  flower-head.  (43,  A  and  B) 

Stipules  are  leaf-like  appendages  found  at 
the  base  of  some  leaf-stalks,  at  times  very  like 


PLATE  XIX.— FIGS.  37-44. 


GLOSSARY  OF  BOTANICAL  TERMS     163 

the  true  leaves  in  shape,  but  often  entirely  dif- 
ferent. (44) 

INFLORESCENCE. 

The  Inflorescence  is  the  manner  in  which  the 
flower-stem  and  its  flowers  are  arranged. 

A  Pe.duncle  is  a  flower-stem  bearing  either 
a  solitary  flower  or  a  cluster.  (45,  A  and  B) 

A  Pedicel  is  the  final  branch  of  the  inflores- 
cence, the  stalk  supporting  each  separate  flower 
on  the  peduncle.  (46) 

VARIETIES  OF  THE  INFLORESCENCE. 

A  Spike  is  an  elongated  cluster  of  stalkless 
(sessile)  flowers.  (47) 

A  Raceme  is  an  elongated,  unbranched  clus- 
ter of  stalked  flowers.  (48) 

A  Panicle  is  a  branched  or  compound 
raceme.  (49) 

A  Head  has  a  number  of  stalkless  flowers,  or 
florets,  packed  closely  together  on  a  common 
receptacle.  (50) 

An  Umbel  has  several  pedicels  of  similar 
length  springing  from  a  common  center,  like 
the  spokes  of  an  umbrella. 


164     WILD  FLOWER  PRESERVATION 

A  Simple  Umbel  bears  a  single  flower  on 
each  pedicel.  (51) 

A  Compound  Umbel  bears  a  secondary  um- 
bel (or  umbellule)  at  the  top  of  each  pedicel. 
(52) 

A  Corymb,  unlike  an  umbel,  has  its  pedi- 
cels starting  from  various  points  on  the  ped- 
uncle, but  all  terminate  at  the  same  level. 
(53) 

THE  FLOWER. 

The  Flower  and  the.  Fruit  are  the  Reproduc- 
tive Organs  of  plants,  for  they  produce  the 
seed. 

A  Complete  Flower  has  four  kinds  of  floral 
organs,  called  Whorls — Calyx,  Corolla,  Sta- 
mens, and  Pistil.  When  these  organs  are  able 
to  perform  their  proper  functions  the  flower 
is  also  called  Perfect.  If  one  or  more  of  these 
organs  is  missing,  the  flower  is  Incomplete,  or 
if,  for  any  reason,  they  fail  to  perform  their 
special  functions,  Imperfect. 

Some  botanists  reserve  the  term  Imperfect 
for  the  lack  of  one  of  the  two  essential  organs 
only,  namely,  the  stamens  or  pistil. 


PLATE  XX.— FIGS.  45  A-53. 


$*  A 


.56  A 


56  3  57 


\ 


60 


PLATE  XXL— FIGS.  54A-6o. 


GLOSSARY  OF  BOTANICAL  TERMS     165 

THE  CALYX. 

The  Calyx  is  the  outer  or  protective  whorl. 
Its  parts,  whether  separate  from  each  other 
or  partially  united,  are  called  Sepals.  They 
are  usually  green.  (54,  A  and  B) 

Petaloid  Sepals  are  white  or  colored  sepals 
that  take  the  place  of  petals.  (55) 

THE  COROLLA. 

The  Corolla  is  the  attractive  whorl.  Its 
parts,  whether  partially  united  or  entirely 
separate,  are  called  Petals.  These  may  be 
white,  colored,  plain,  spotted,  or  streaked,  and 
the  shape  infinitely  varied.  (56,  A  and  B) 

The  Perianth  is  the  combination  of  the  Calyx 
and  Corolla.  These  are  often  similar  in  shape 
and  texture  and  look  like  a  single  whorl.  (57) 

VARIOUS  FORMS  OF  THE  COROLLA. 

Tubular,  in  the  form  of  a  tube.  (58) 
Campanulate,  bell-shaped.  (59) 
Funnel-shaped,  in  the  form  of  a  funnel. 
(60) 
Urceolate,  somewhat  egg  or  barrel-shaped, 


166     WILD  FLOWER  PRESERVATION 

contracted  near  the  mouth  and  spreading  out 
again  round  the  rim.  (61) 

Stellate.,  when  the  petals  spread  out  flatly 
from  their  base,  or  near  the  base,  in  the  form 
of  a  star.  (62) 

Salver-shaped,  when  the  lower  portion  of  the 
corolla  forms  a  tube  and  the  upper  expands 
horizontally.  (63) 

Cruciform,  in  the  form  of  a  cross.  (64) 

Ligulate.,  strap-shaped.  (65) 

Papilionaceous,  having  a  fanciful  resem- 
blance to  a  butterfly.  (66) 

Labiate,  lipped.  An  irregular  corolla,  bear- 
ing two  or  more  unequal  divisions  called  lips. 
(67) 

Spurred,  when  the  base  of  a  petal  or  the 
corolla  has  a  pointed,  hollow  projection  shaped 
like  a  spur.  (68) 

STAMENS. 

The  Stamens  make  up  the  third  whorl  and 
are  the  male  organs  of  flowering  plants.  As  a 
rule  the  stamen  has  a  stalk  called  the  Filament, 
with,  usually,  a  two-celled  Anther  at  the  top. 


61  62.  63 


m        &> 


66 


/ 

A  fe8 


PLATE  XXII.— FIGS.  61-68. 


GLOSSARY  OF  BOTANICAL  TERMS     167 

These  cells  open  when  ripe  to  discharge  their 
Pollen. 

The  anther  is  the  essential  part  of  the 
stamen,  which  may  be  sessile  (having  no  fila- 
ment) and  yet  be  perfect.  The  length  or  ab- 
sence of  the  filament  is  always  in  accordance 
with  the  requirements  of  particular  plants,  and 
anthers  open  in  various  ways  for  the  same 
reason.  Examples  of  Stamens:  (69,  A,  B  and 

c) 

Stamens  having  no  anthers  and  anthers  con- 
taining no  pollen  are  said  to  be  barren.  (For 
the  explanation  of  Pollen  see  Fertilization.) 

THE  PISTIL. 

The  Pistil  is  the  fourth  and  inner  whorl  and 
the  female,  or  seed-bearing,  organ  of  flowering 
plants. 

Some  plants  have  a  single  pistil.  (70) 

In  other  plants  the  term  pistil  is  used  col- 
lectively of  a  number  of  Carpels.  (71) 

Some  botanists  call  each  carpel  a  pistil. 

A  Pistil  or  a  Carpel  consists  of  three  parts, 
the  Stigma,  Style.,  and  Ovary.  (72) 


168     WILD  FLOWER  PRESERVATION 

The  Stigma  is  variously  shaped,  being  some- 
times a  mere  point,  sometimes  a  head,  and  at 
other  times  lobed  or  divided.  Examples  of 
various  stigmas :  (73,  A  to  r) 

The  surface  of  the  stigma  is  either  sticky  or 
feathery,  so  that  it  may  retain  the  pollen  grains 
that  fall  upon  it.  (See  Fertilization,  p.  172.) 

The  Style  is  the  connecting  tube  between  the 
stigma  and  the  ovary,  and  it  is  long  or  short 
according  to  the  requirements  of  individual 
plants.  (74,  A  and  B) 

Some  pistils  have  several  styles.  (75,  A  and 

B) 

If  the  style  is  missing  the  stigma  is  said  to 
be  sessile  upon  the  ovary. 

The  Ovary  is  the  enlarged  portion  at  the 
base  of  the  pistil  or  carpel.  It  consists  of  one 
or  more  Cells,  each  containing  one  or  more 
Ovule.s  or  Seed-Eggs.  An  Ovary  (sectional 
cutting).  (76) 

The  shape  of  the  ovary  is  infinitely  varied. 
If  there  is  no  stigmatic  surface,  or  if  there  is 
no  ovule  in  the  ovary,  such  a  pistil  is  said  to 
be  imperfect,  or  barren. 


All 


Anita* 


\  1 

'fcqA 


f 


71 


I 


<-  Stigrnjs 


73  B 


"V5 

t 


6qc 


, 


-Style 


A 

\ 


73  F 


PLATE  XXIII.— FIGS. 


GLOSSARY  OF  BOTANICAL  TERMS     169 

FERTILIZATION. 

Plants  are  fertilized  by  pollen  falling  upon 
the  stigma  of  the  pistil  or  carpel. 

Pollen  grains  are  cells  containing  fertiliz- 
ing matter.  When  highly  magnified  they  are 
seen  to  be  of  various  shapes.  When  pollen 
grains  adhere  to  the  sticky  surface  of  the 
stigma,  or  are  caught  in  its  hairy  surface,  they 
emit  long  root-like  tubes  full  of  fertilizing  mat- 
ter. These  are  pushed  down  through  the  style 
to  the  ovary  and  the  seed-eggs  are  thus  ferti- 
lized and  developed  into  seeds.  The  ovary  and 
its  seeds  gradually  enlarge,  and  when  the  lat- 
ter are  ripe  they  are  ejected  in  various  ways  to 
start  life  upon  their  own  account. 

Examples  of  Pollen  grains  emitting  tubes, 
showing  tubes  descending.  (Both  greatly 
magnified.)  (77,  A  and  B) 

Pollen  is  sometimes  collected  into  sticky 
masses,  as  in  Orchids. 

METHODS  OF  FERTILIZATION. 
Self -Fertilization.    A  flower  is  said  to  be 
self-fertilized  when  its  seed-eggs  are  fertilized 
by  pollen  from  its  own  anthers.  (78) 


170     WILD  FLOWER  PRESERVATION 

Cross-Fertilization.  Many  plants  occasion- 
ally or  invariably  require  pollen  from  another 
flower  before  they  can  produce  good  seed.  (79) 

AGENTS  IN  CROSS-FERTILIZATION. 
Pollen  is  carried  from  flower  to  flower  (1) 
by  insects,  (2)  by  the  wind,  (3)  by  water,  and 
(4)  by  birds.     Of  these  the  chief  agents  are 
insects  and  the  wind. 

DIFFERENCES  BETWEEN  INSECT-FERTILIZED 

(ENTOMOPHILOTJS)  AND  WIND-FERTILIZED 

(ANEMOPHILOUS)  FLOWERS. 

As  a  rule  there  is  a  great  difference  between 
insect-  and  wind-fertilized  flowers,  both  in 
structure  and  appearance. 

INSECT-FERTILIZED  FLOWERS. 
The.  Corolla.  This  is  usually  either  large, 
curiously  shaped,  attractively  colored,  spotted, 
streaked,  or  sweetly  or  disagreeably  scented, 
according  to  the  taste  of  the  insects  required 
to  cross  the  flower.  Some  white  and  pale  yel- 
low flowers  open  only  at  night  to  attract  night- 
flying  insects,  and  for  the  same  reason  some 
flowers  are  more  strongly  scented  then. 


GLOSSARY  OF  BOTANICAL  TERMS     171 

Tiny  flowers  fertilized  by  insects  are  gener- 
ally massed  together  to  attract  greater  atten- 
tion. 

The  shape  of  the  corolla  frequently  has  much 
to  do  with  its  fertilization  and  in  some  cases 
this  is  specialized  to  such  an  extent  that 
certain  flowers  can  only  be  fertilized  by  certain 
insects,  and  a  dearth  of  these  would  bring  about 
a  corresponding  dearth  of  the  flowers. 

Some  corollas  are  open  to  the  sky  and  very 
easy  of  access.  (80) 

Others,  growing  from  the  sides  of  stems  in  a 
more  or  less  dense  cluster,  have  developed  a 
large  lower  petal.  This  protrudes  so  as  to 
form  a  convenient  alighting  platform  for  in- 
sects in  search  of  honey  in  the  throat  of  the 
flower.  The  upper  petal  forms  a  hood  over 
the  stamens  and  thus  protects  the  pollen  from 
moisture  which  would  injure  it.  In  searching 
for  honey,  the  insect  shakes  the  stamens  and 
this  releases  the  pollen,  so  that  it  falls  upon  the 
insect's  back  and  is  rubbed  off  later  on  the 
stigma  of  another  flower.  (81) 

Flowers  with  very  long  throats  require 
crossing  by  long-tongued  insects.  (82) 


172     WILD  FLOWER  PRESERVATION 

Flowers  that  require  the  services  of  small 
flies  are  generally  flatly  open,  and  when  they 
secrete  honey  it  is  not  far  to  seek.  (83) 

The  secretion  of  honey  is  a  great  attraction 
in  insect-fertilized  flowers;  but  many  plants 
possessing  no  honey  are  visited  for  the  sake 
of  their  pollen,  some  of  which  is  eaten,  some 
stored,  and  some  dropped  on  to  the  stigmas 
of  other  flowers. 

The  Stigma.  The  stigmas  of  insect-fertil- 
ized flowers  are  variously  shaped,  but  they  are 
more  or  less  smooth  and  sticky.  (84) 

Pollen.  The  pollen  is  often  heavier  and 
moister  than  that  of  wind-fertilized  flowers. 
When  magnified  it  is  also  seen  to  be  rough  and 
spiky,  so  that  it  may  easily  stick  to  the  hairy 
bodies  of  insects  and  later  adhere  to  the  sticky 
surface  of  the  stigmas.  Pollen-grains  (both 
greatly  magnified.)  (85) 

WIND-FERTILIZED  FLOWERS. 

The  Corolla.  This  is  usually  small,  incon- 
spicuously colored  and  without  scent  or  en- 
tirely absent.  (86) 

Such  flowers  frequently  bloom  before  the 


A-* 


1 


77A  77B  75 

magnified ,  after  Hooter) 


7 


o 


7q(gfearty  ™a£)     SO 

,/ 

'•^P16 

\*f 


& 

• 


S2. 


55 


PLATE  XXIV.— FIGS.  74-85. 


GLOSSARY  OF  BOTANICAL  TERMS     173 

leaves  so  that  the  pollen  may  be  swept  more 
easily  from  flower  to  flower  in  the  strong  winds 
of  early  spring.  Some  are  high  up  on  trees, 
where  pollen  clouds  are  unchecked  in  their 
progress  and  many  dangle  in  clusters  from 
slender  peduncles  that  are  easily  swayed  by 
the  wind.  (87) 

The  Stamens.  Whether  the  flowers  are  up- 
right or  suspended,  the  stalks  (filaments)  of 
the  stamens  are  generally  long  and  slender,  and 
they  hang  far  out  from  the  corolla  so  that  the 
wind  may  shake  their  anthers.  The  anthers 
are  also  more  or  less  pendulous.  (88) 

Pollen.  This  is  generally  lighter,  drier, 
more  powdery  and  more  abundant  than  in  in- 
sect-fertilized plants.  When  magnified  the 
grains  are  found  to  be  smooth,  with  flattened 
sides,  so  as  to  present  as  much  surface  as  pos- 
sible to  the  wind.  (89,  A  and  B) 

The  Stigmas.  These  are  generally  feathery, 
so  as  to  catch  and  entangle  some  of  the  pollen 
grains  blown  about  by  the  wind.  (90,  A  and  B) 

As  a  rule  wind-fertilized  flowers  produce  no 
honey. 

In  most  cases  the  stamens  and  pistils  of 


174     WILD  FLOWER  PRESERVATION 

wind-fertilized  plants  are  in  separate  flowers. 
Those  bearing  stamens  are  called  staminate  or 
male  flowers,  those  bearing  the  pistils,  pistil- 
late or  female. 

Some  plants  (known  as  monoecious)  bear 
male  and  female  flowers  on  the  same  indi- 
vidual. 

Others  (dioecious)  bear  male  and  female 
flowers  on  separate  individuals,  some  plants 
of  a  species  being  entirely  male  and  others  en- 
tirely female.  (91,  A  and  B) 

Some  wind-fertilized  flowers  are  visited  by 
insects  because  of  their  abundant  pollen,  but 
these  visitors  to  the  male  flowers  seldom  effect 
fertilization,  as  the  female  flowers  are  too  in- 
significant to  attract  their  attention. 

DEVICES  FOR  PREVENTING  SELF-FERTILIZATION". 

Flowers  that  require  crossing  before  good 
seed  can  be  set  have  many  devices  for  prevent- 
ing, or  lessening  the  chance  of  their  pistils  be- 
ing fertilized  by  the  surrounding  stamens. 

In  some  cases  the  flower's  own  pollen  is  ab- 
solutely ineffectual  when  it  does  fall  upon  the 
stigma.  In  others  the  stigma  and  stamens  are 


GLOSSARY  OF  BOTANICAL  TERMS     175 

situated  in  separate  flowers  either  on  the  same 
plant  or  on  different  plants  (see  definition  91). 

In  some  the  anthers  mature  and  shed  their 
pollen  before  the  stigma  has  matured  to  re- 
ceive it.  Such  flowers  are  said  to  be  proter- 
androus.  (92) 

In  other  plants  (but  this  is  less  frequent) 
the  stigma  ripens  first,  is  fertilized  by  pollen 
from  other  flowers,  and  dies  down  before  the 
anthers  come  to  maturity.  Such  flowers  are 
said  to  be  proterogynous.  (93) 

In  some  flowers  the  anthers  open  on  the  side 
farthest  away  from  pistil.  (94) 

Some  species  have  two  distinct  kinds  of 
flowers  always  borne  on  separate  plants.  (95, 
A  and  B) 

In  95  A  the  stamens  are  half-way  down  the 
corolla  tube,  but  the  style  is  long  and  the  stigma 
peeps  out  at  the  top. 

In  95  B  the  positions  of  stamens  and  pistil 
are  reversed. 

Neither  plant  is  self-fertilizing.  Every 
long-styled  flower  must  be  f  ertilized  by  pollen 
from  a  short-styled  flower  and  vice  versa.  In 
95  A  no  pollen  can  fall  upon  the  stigma  from 


176     WILD  FLOWER  PRESERVATION 

the  flower's  own  stamens,  for  they  lie  beneath 
it.  In  95  B  the  stamens  are  above  the  stigma, 
but  their  pollen  cannot  effectually  fertilize  the 
ovules.  Even  the  pollen  differs  in  the  two 
flowers.  Pollen  grains  from  the  long-styled 
flower  are  small  and  their  tubes  short,  since 
they  have  only  a  little  distance  to  travel  down 
the' short  style  of  the  other  kind.  Those  from 
the  short-styled  flower  are  larger,  with  longer 
tubes  to  enable  them  to  reach  the  ovary  at  the 
base  of  the  long-styled  flowers. 

ADAPTABLE  FLOWERS. 

Some  species  are  able  to  fertilize  themselves 
should  they  fail  to  receive  pollen  from  other 
flowers.  (96) 

MALE  AND  FEMALE  CONDITIONS  OF  FLOWERS. 

Flowers  bearing  both  stamens  and  pistil  and 
ripening  these  at  separate  times  are  said  to 
be  either  in  the  male  or  female  condition  ac- 
cording to  the  organ  that  is  mature  at  any 
given  time.  (97,  A  and  B) 

In  97  A  the  flower  is  in  the  male  condition, 
and  shows  three  ripe  stamens  and  two  not  yet 


Cone  tefet 


PLATE  XXV.— FIGS.  86-96. 


GLOSSARY  OF  BOTANICAL  TERMS     177 

matured.     The   stigmas  have   not  appeared. 

In  97  B  the  flower  is  in  its  second  and  female 
condition.  The  stamens  have  matured  and 
fallen  away  and  the  stigmas  have  come  to  ma- 
turity. (See  definition  92.) 

Some  flowers  are  first  female  and  later  male, 
but  this  order  of  things  is  not  so  frequent  as 
the  reverse.  (See  definition  93.) 

Flowers  are  said  to  be — 

Bisexual  or  Hermaphrodite  when  stamens  and 

pistil  are  present  and  perfect. 
Unisexual  when  either  all  male  or  all  female. 

Plants  are  said  to  be — 

Monoecious  when  some  flowers  are  male  and 
others  female  but  both  kinds  occur  on  the 
same  individual. 

Dioecious  when  the  male  and  female  flowers  are 
found  on  separate  individuals. 

Polygamous  when  male,  female  and  bisexual 
(or  hermaphrodite)  flowers  occur  on  the 
same  individual,  or  on  separate  individ- 
uals of  the  same  species. 


178     WILD  FLOWER  PRESERVATION 

DEVICES  FOR  PREVENTING  THE  ENTRANCE  OF 
INSECTS  UNABLE  TO  FERTILIZE  THE  FLOWER. 

Plants  have  many  devices  for  preventing 
the  entrance  of  insects  too  small  or  otherwise 
unable  to  fertilize  their  flowers. 

Some  insects  are  too  light  to  shake  the  pollen 
out  of  the  anthers,  others  so  smooth  that  little 
pollen  would  attach  to  their  bodies,  and  some 
so  small  that  they  could  crawl  into  the  flowers, 
rob  them  of  their  honey  and  creep  out  again 
without  effecting  fertilization. 

Hairs  at,  or  in,  the  throats  of  flowers  prevent 
the  ingress  of  small  insects.  (98) 

Hairs  and  sticky  glands  on  the  stems  or 
calyces  of  plants  are  also  obstacles.  When 
such  hairs  are  magnified  they  are  often  seen 
to  be  clubbed,  branched  or  hooked.  (99,  A  and 

B) 

Bristly  spines  or  recurved  teeth  on  the  bracts 
protect  the  florets  in  some  genera  of  Com- 
positae.  (100, 101) 


GLOSSARY  OF  BOTANICAL  TERMS     179 

THE  FKUIT. 

The  Fruit  consists  of  the  ovary  with  its  con- 
tained seeds  and  any  other  adhering  parts  of 
the  flower  that  remain  and  enlarge  after  the 
fertilization  of  the  seed-eggs.  (102,  A,  B,  and  c) 

Single  Fruit  is  the  fruit  of  a  single  flower, 
whether  as  the  result  of  a  single  pistil  or  of 
many  carpels  in  one  flower.  (103) 

Aggregate,  the  fruit  cluster  resulting  from 
several  flowers.  (104) 

If  bracts  remain  under  a  fruit  when  its 
seeds  are  ripe  they  are  counted  as  part  of  the 
fruit. 

Sometimes  the  summit  of  the  flower-stem 
(Receptacle)  becomes  swollen  and  juicy,  as  in 
the  strawberry.  When  this  falls  with  the  ripe 
fruit  it  is  said  to  be  a  part  of  it.  The  fleshy 
part  of  the  Apple  is  the  swollen  receptacle  en- 
veloping the  ovaries. 

The  calyx  often  remains  when  the  fruit  is 
ripe;  the  corolla  very  seldom.  The  stamens 
sometimes  remain  in  a  withered  condition, 
while  the  style  either  falls  away,  remains  as 


180     WILD  FLOWER  PRESERVATION 

a  spike  on  the  fruit,  or  develops  into  some 
appendage  to  it. 

The  Pericarp  is  the  envelope  of  the  seed  or 
seeds.  It  is  sometimes  called  the  Seed-vessel. 
It  does  not  include  the  seeds  themselves  or 
any  receptacle  or  calyx  that  may  remain  and 
surround  it.  (105) 

Fruits  may  be  dry,  or  fleshy  and  juicy. 

Fruits  are  said  to  be — 

Dehiscent,  when  opening  at  maturity  to  re- 
lease the  seeds.  (106) 

Indehiscent,  when  they  do  not  open,  but  fall 
with  the  contained  seeds.  (107) 

Most  juicy  fruits  fall  in  this  way. 

VARIOUS  KINDS  OF  FRUITS. 

The  Pod  is  long  and  narrow  and  when  ripe 
the  pericarp  splits  longitudinally  up  both  sides. 
(108) 

The  Silique  (plural,  Siliques)  is  a  two- 
chambered  pod.  (109) 

Silicle,  a  short,  broad,  two-chambered  pod. 
(110) 

Capsule,  another  form  of  dry  seed-vessel 


1 


-mag) 


100  101 


10*.   A  102,  B  10Z  C 


1O5 


IQt 


105  106  107 


PLATE  XXVI.—  FIGS.  97-107. 


11 2.  (mag)  115 


110 


111  A  HID  111C  111  t)(rna£) 


11* 


115 


lib 


PLATE  XX VII.— FIGS.  108-116. 


GLOSSARY  OF  BOTANICAL  TERMS     181 

opening  by  valves,  by  teeth,  by  pores,  or  by 
splitting  latitudinally.  (Ill,  A-D) 

Achene,  a  dry,  single-seeded  fruit.  (112,  A 
and  B) 

Sometimes  the  calyx  remains  upon  the  fruit 
in  the  form  of  a  tuft  of  silky  hairs  (Pappus). 

Nut,  a  dry,  single-seeded  fruit  covered  by  a 
hard  shell.  (113) 

Samara,  a  nut  with  a  membranous  append- 
age or  wing  attached  to  it.  (114,  A  and  B) 

Berry.  In  this  fruit  the  seeds  are  embedded 
in  the  soft,  pulpy  pericarp,  which  is  protected 
by  a  soft  outer  covering  of  thin  skin.  (115) 

The.  Drupe  has  an  outer  covering  of  skin, 
but  the  inner  part  of  the  pericarp  has  become 
partly  hard  and  woody  (forming  a  stone,  with- 
in which  is  the  seed)  and  partly  fleshy.  The 
Drupe  is  often  called  a  Stone-fruit.  (116) 

THE  DISPERSAL  OF  FRUITS. 

Plants  have  many  wonderful  contrivances 
for  dispersing  their  fruits  and  so  preventing 
the  seeds  falling  into  ground  already  occupied. 


182     WILD  FLOWER  PRESERVATION 

Dispersal  ~by  the  Wind. 

By  Pappus.  Some  fruits  have  silky  hairs 
attached  to  them.  (117) 

By  Awns.  Others  have  feathery  awns. 
When  rejeased  they  sail  on  the  wind  and  are 
frequently  carried  and  dropped  far  from  the 
parent  plant.  (118) 

Some  fruits  are  very  small,  light,  and  flat, 
and  these  are  easily  swept  along  by  the  wind. 

Winged  fruits.  Others  have  wings  that  act 
as  sails  and  carry  them  far  from  where  they 
grew.  (119,  A  and  B) 

Dispersal  ~by  Animals. 

Hooks,  hairs,  pricldes.  Some  fruits  are 
covered  with  hooks  or  prickly  hairs,  which 
easily  attach  themselves  to  the  feathers  of  birds 
or  to  the  hairy  bodies  of  cows,  horses,  rabbits, 
rats,  and  other  animals  that  brush  past  the 
plants.  (120,  A  and  B) 

Glowing  color  and  juicy  pulp.  Some  fruits 
are  conspicuously  colored  to  attract  birds,  who 
eagerly  devour  the  attractive  pericarp ;  but  as 
the  seeds  are  too  hard  to  be  digested,  these 


GLOSSARY  OF  BOTANICAL  TERMS     183 

are  dropped  after  being  carried  far  from  the 
parent  plant.  (121) 

Shooting  See.ds. 

The  styles  and  carpels  of  some  plants  dry, 
contract,  and  curl  up  when  the  seeds  are  ripe, 
and,  separating  at  the  base,  shoot  the  seeds  out 
from  the  plant.  (122) 

The  fruit  of  many  umbelliferous  plants  is 
shot  away  by  animals  brushing  against  the 
dry,  stiff  stalks,  which,  by  swinging  back  again 
into  place,  jerk  off  the  loosely  attached  fruit. 
(123) 

The  Poppy  shakes  its  seeds  out  from  the 
pores  or  windows  of  its  capsule  either  by  the 
wind  swaying  the  long,  slender  stalks  or  by 
animals  brushing  against  them.  (124) 

The  pods  of  some  plants  split  open,  and  as 
the  two  valves  part  and  curl,  the  seeds  are 
ejected.  (125) 

THE  SEED. 

The  Seed  is  the  matured  ovule.  It  consists 
of  an  Embryo  (or  young  plant)  and  a  Cover- 
ing, usually  of  two  coats.  The  seed  also  very 


184     WILD  FLOWER  PRESERVATION 

frequently  contains  Albumen.  Sectional  cut- 
ting of  a  seed.  (126) 

The  Embryo  is  the  rudimentary  plant,  and 
when  fully  formed  it  consists  of  one  or  two 
Cotyledons  (or  seed-leaves),  a  Plumule  (or  bud 
of  a  stem),  and  the  Radicle  (or  origin  of  the 
future  root).  (127,  A  to  D) 

A.  Embryo  of  Bean  split  open. 

B  to  D.  The  plantlet  at  later  stages. 

Monocotyledons  are  plants  whose  embryos 
have  only  one  seed-leaf  or  cotyledon. 

Dicotyledons  are  plants  whose  embryos  have 
two  seed-leaves. 

The  Covering  or  shell  of  the  seed  generally 
consists  of  two  coats.  The  Testa  is  the  outside 
coat  and  the  principal  one.  It  may  be  hard, 
crusty,  woody,  or  thin  and  skin-like.  The 
Tegmen  is  the  inner  coat  of  the  seed. 

The  Albumen  is  the  embryo's  food-store. 

THE  CLASSIFICATION  OF  PLANTS. 

Plants  are  divided  and  subdivided  into 
groups  according  to  the  number  of  features 
they  have  in  common.  All  plants  and  groups 
of  plants  have  their  names.  These  show  their 


U7  A       12.7:5  {127 c  1 127  D 


PLATE  XXVIII.— FIGS.  117-127  D. 


GLOSSARY  OF  BOTANICAL  TERMS     185 

relation  to  each  other  and  facilitate  reference 
to  particular  plants.  As  Latin  and  Greek  are 
the  languages  universally  acquired  by  educated 
people,  they  are  the  ones  chiefly  used  in 
Botanical  nomenclature. 

The  terms  in  most  frequent  use  for  this  pur- 
pose of  classification  are  Variety,  Spe.cies, 
Genus,  Family  and  Order. 

A  Species  is  a  group  of  plants  so  like  one 
another  that  we  suppose  them  to  have  de- 
scended from  a  common  parent.  Trifolium 
pratense  (Red  Clover) . 

(That  is,  all  Red  Clovers  form  one  species.) 

A  Variety.  When  a  number  of  plants  in  a 
species  are  unlike  the  rest  in  one  or  more  minor 
particulars  these  unlike  plants  form  a  Variety. 

A  Genus  is  a  group  of  several  or  many  spe- 
cies resembling  each  other  in  important  mat- 
ters of  structure. 

Trifolium  (Clover)  including  such  similar 
species  as  Red,  White,  Rabbit 's-foot  and  Hop 
Clover,  Polygonum  (Knotweed),  including 
Knotgrass,  Lady's  Thumb,  Smartweed,  Tear- 
thumb  and  False  Buckwheat. 

Plants  had  most  cumbersome  names  years 


186     WILD  FLOWER  PRESERVATION 

ago,  "Gramen  xerampelinum,  miliacea,  per- 
tenui  ramosaque  sparsa  panicula"  being  used 
to  denote  a  grass  known  later  as  Poa  bulbosa. 
Linnaeus,  the  great  Swedish  botanist  (1707-78) 
invented  the  simple  plan  of  giving  each  plant 
a  name  consisting  of  two  words  only,  the  first 
a  substantive,  the  second  an  adjective;  the  first 
denoting  the  genus  in  which  it  was  placed,  the 
second  showing  the  particular  species  in  that 
genus.  In  English  the  specific  name  comes 
first  and  the  generic  second.  Trifolium  pra- 
tense  (Red  Clover). 

Family.  Several  or  many  genera  that  re- 
semble each  other  in  marked  characteristics 
are  grouped  into  a  Family. 

Example:  Labiatae  or  Lipped  Family,  in- 
cluding the  Blue  Curls,  Mints,  Skullcaps, 
Bugles,  etc.  Umbelliferse  or  Umbel-bearing 
Family,  including  Wild  Carrot,  Cow  Parsnip, 
Spotted  Cowbane,  etc. 

Order.  A  group  of  related  families.  Thus 
the  Pulse,  Rose  and  Saxifrage  families  belong 
to  the  Order  Resales. 

Unfortunately  botanists  are  not  absolutely 
agreed  about  the  classification  of  every  plant, 


GLOSSARY  OF  BOTANICAL  TERMS     187 

and  this  causes  slight  differences  in  the  ar- 
rangements of  the  various  Floras  published. 
Some  botanists  consider  the  differences  be- 
tween two  plants  so  slight  as  to  constitute  the 
second  merely  a  variety  of  the  first;  while 
others  would  class  each  as  a  distinct  species. 
The  same  discrepancies  occur  between  the 
larger  groups,  but  these  differences  in  classifi- 
cation (and  consequently  in  nomenclature)  are 
very  few  in  proportion  to  the  enormous  num- 
ber of  plants  known  to  exist. 


INDEX 


INDEX 


Abbreviations  for  notes,  83 
Abruptly  pinnate,  160 
Achene,  81,  181 
Adaptable  flowers,  176 
Adder's    Tongue,    Yellow,    106, 

110,  111 
Adhesive    strips,    41,    42,    128, 

147,  150 
Agents     in     cross-fertilization, 

170 

Agrimony,  148 
Album,  39,  150 
Albumen,  184 
Alternate,  159 
Amplexicaul,  158 
Anemone,  125 
Anemophilous,  170 
Anther,  80,  166 
Apex  of  leaf,  157 
Arrangement  of  leaves,  158 
plants,  39 

on  mounts,   144,   148 
Attachment  of  leaves,  157 
Avens,  147 
Awns,  182 

Base  of  leaf,  157 

Basket  for  collecting,  28,  93 

Bean,  184 

Berry,  181 

Bisexual,  177 

Blackberry,  136,  137,  147 


Blade  of  leaf,  157 
Blotting-paper,  37,  82,  118,  126, 

130,  139 
Blue  Curls,  186 
Botanical  books,  30,  65,  83 

bore,  88 

outfit,  26,  46 

press,  36,  122,  128 
Botanists  of  the  past,  20 
Boxes  for  storing  plants,  45 
Bracts,  76,  162 
Browning  and  Harebells,  61 
Brushes,  use  of,  38,   118,   126, 

132 

Buckwheat,  False,  185 
Bugle,  186 

Bulbous  Buttercup,  73 
Bushy  plants,  thinning  out,  123 
Buttercup,  Bulbous,  73 

Early,  73 

study  of,  69-72 

Swamp,  73 

Tall,  69,  73 

Calyx,  165 

Campanulate,  165 

Capsule,  180 

Cardboard,  use  of,  145,  146 

Care  in  gathering  plants,  93-97 

Carpel,  70,  74,  167 

Carrot,  Wild,  186 

Case  for  plants,  44 


191 


192 


INDEX 


Cauline  leaves,  158 
Cells  of  Ovary,  168 
Changing  drying-papers,  132 
Characteristic  growth,  124 
Choice  of  herbarium  specimens, 

93,  94 

Cinquefoil,  148 

Circles  of  cotton-wool,  82,  130 
Classification  in  the  herbarium, 
39,  147 

of  plants,  184 
Clematis,  Wild,  136 
Climbing  stems,  156 
Clover,  Hop,  185 

Rabbit's-foot,  185 

Red,  185,  186 

White,  185 
Collecting-case,  27,  93 
Color  effects,  60,  61 
Complete  flower,  164 
Composite  flowers,  75 
Compound  leaves,  160 
Convolvulus,  130 
Cordate,  161 
Corolla,  165,  170,  172 

various  forms  of,  165 
Corrugated  board,  use  of,   134 
Corymb,  164 
Cotton-wool,  38,  82,  130 
Cotyledon,  184 
Cow  Parsnip,  186 
Cowbane,  Spotted,  186 
Cranes'  Bills,  117,  130,  131 
Creased    leaves,    treatment   of, 

132 

Creeping  stems,  156 
Crenate,  160 
Cross-fertilization,    agents    in, 

170 
Cruciform,  166 


Cuckoo  Flower,  104 
Cutting  down  herbarium  speci- 
mens, 94 

Daisy,  Ox-Eye,  112,  113,  130 

White,  113 

pressing  of,  130 
Decumbent,  156 
Decurrent,  158 
Decussate,  159 

Definitions  of  herbarium,  21 
Dehiscent,  180 
Destructive  gathering,  95 
Diary  of  the  months,  59 
Dicotyledons,  184 
Dioecious,  74,  177 
Disc  floret  of  Robin's  Plantain, 

78,  79 

Dispersal  of  fruits,  181 
Dissecting  needles,  35 
Divided  leaves,   159 
Dog's-tooth  Violet,  110 
Drupe,  181 
Dry  plants,  119,  135 
Drying  damp  papers,  119,  134 
Drying-paper,  37,  119,  128 

Early  Buttercup,  73 
Embryo,  184 

English  names,  use  of,  89 
Entire  leaves,  160 
Entomophilous,  170 
Erect  stems,  156 
Errors  in  gathering,  103 
Examination  of  plants,  104 
Exhausted  plants,  103 

False  Buckwheat,  185 

Female  condition  of  flowers,  176 

Fertilization,  77,   169 


INDEX 


193 


cross,  80,  170 

self,  169 

Fibrous  root,  69,  155 
Filament,  166 
Flora,  importance  of,  29 
Florets,  75,  77 
Flower,  164 

heads,  knobby,  118,  130 

and  fruit  on  same  stem,  95 
Flowers  as  mementoes,  17,  67, 
97 

composite,  75 

female  condition  of,  176 

imperfect,  164 

incomplete,  164 

male  condition  of,  176 
Folders  for  drying,  38,  122,  127 
Forceps,  44 

Frequent    changes    of    drying- 
papers,  131 
Fruit,  95,  179 

pressure  of,  137,  138 
Fruit  jars,  use  of,  103 

Gathering  plants,  93-97 

Genera,   genus,   185 

Genus-covers,  40,  148 

Gerardia,  Purple,  125 

Glands,  178 

Glass  plate,  use  of,  40,  144 

Glue,  41,  144 

Going  to  seed,  73,  135 

Goldenrod,  117 

Gummed  paper,  41,  147,  150 

Hairs,  178,  182 
Haphazard  pressing,  18,  120 
Hard  fruits,  pressure  of,  137 
Harebell,  61 
Hastate,  161 


Head,  163 

Herbarium,  17,  19,  21,  147 

Hermaphrodite,  177 

Hog  Peanut,  130 

Hooks,  156,  182 

Hop  Clover,  185 

How  to  identify  plants,  104-112 
"know"  a  flora,  106-110 
study  plant  life,  68-83 

Identification    of    plants,    101- 
112 

outdoors,  101 

indoors,  102 

soon  after  gathering,  101 
Imbricated,  162 
Imperfect  flowers,  164 
Incomplete  flowers,  164 
Indehiscent,  J£0 
Inequalities     of     thickness     in 

press,  118,  130 
Inflorescence,  163 

varieties  of,  163 
Insect  fertilization,  78,  170 
Insignificant  flowers,  78 
Internodes,  156 
Interruptedly  pinnate,  160 
Involucre,  77,  114,  162 

Jack-in-the-Pulpit,  136,  137 
Jewelweed,  56 

Knobby    plants,    pressure    of, 
123,  130 

Knotgrass,  185 
Knotweed,  185 
Knowledge  of  plants,  87 

Labels,  42,  43,  139,  147 
Labiate,  166 


194 


INDEX 


Lady's  Thumb,  185 
Lanceolate,  114,  161 
Latin  names,  186 
Leaf  attachment,  157 

position,  158 

stalk,  157 
Leaflet,  160 

margins,  160 

shapes,  161 
Leaves,  157 

arrangement  of,  158 

compound,  160 

divided,  159 

entire,  160 

lobed,  159 

simple,  159 
Ligulate,  166 
Linear,  113,  161 
Linen  tester,  use  of,  35 
Little  Sundrops,  149 
Locality  of  plants,  43,  53 
Lupine,  Wild,  138 

Magazine  "cuttings,"  54 
Magnifying  glass,  35 
Male  condition  of  flowers,  176 
Margin  of  leaf,  157 
Meadow-sweet,  147 
Mementoes  of  the  months,  17 
Methods   of   preserving   plants, 

various,  120,  121 
Midrib,  157 

Mildew  in  the  press,  131,  134 
Mint,  186 

Monocotyledons,  184 
Moncecious,  174,  177 
Moth  balls,  46 
Mounting  fruits,  150 

papers,  39 

plants,  143-152 


Name-cards,  45 

Natural  arrangement  of  plants, 

124,  131,  144,  148 
Nature    will    not    be    cramped, 
152 

never  in  a  hurry,  88 

note-book,  36,  51-61 
Newspapers,  use  of,  29,  38,  119 
Nodes,  156 
Note-book,  36,  52 
Notes,  abbreviations  of,  83 

on  plants,  53 
Nut,  181 

Obcordate,  161 
Obovate,  113,  161 
Observation    of    plant    develop- 
ment, 56 

"Old  Man's  Beard,"  136 
Open  air  pressing,  130 
Opposite  leaves,  158 
Orchids,  117,  169 
Orders,  plant,  186 
Outfit,  botanical,  26,  46 
Ovary,  168 
Ovate,  161 
Ovule,  168 
Ox-Eye  Daisy,  112,  113,  130 

Paint-brush,    use    of,    38,    118, 

126,  132 
Palmate,  160 
Panicle,  163 
Papilionaceous,  166 
Pappus,  181,  182 
Parsnip,  Cow,  186 
Peanut,  Hog,  130 
Pedicel,  163 
Peduncle,  114,  163 
Penknife,  use  of,  35,  71,  76 


INDEX 


195 


Perfect  flower,  164 

Perforate,  158 

Perianth,  107,  165 

Pericarp,  180 

Petiole,  113,  157 

Photographs  of  plants,  54,  59 

Pinnate,  160 

Pinnatifid,  159 

Pistil,  80,  167 

Pistillate,  174 

Plant  description,  112 

families,  39,  186 

"sandwich,"  146 

study,  69 
Plantain,  117 

Robin's,  74 
Plants,  arrangement  of,  39 

care  in  gathering,  93-97 

examination  of,  104 

exhausted,  103 

gathering,  93-96 

how  to  identify,  101-112 

knowledge  of,  87 

natural  arrangement  of,  124, 
131,  144,  148 

photographs  of,  54,  59 

scarecrow,  120 
Plumule,  184 
Pod,  180 

Poetry  and  flowers,  21,  60 
Pollen,  80,  166,  172,  173 

grains,  169 

Polygamous  plants,  177 
Position  of  labels,  42,  149 
Preservation  of  plants  an  art, 
18,  68 

fruits,  135-139 

roots,  95 

soon  after  gathering,  117 
Press,  botanical,  36,  122,  128 


Pressing,  haphazard,  18,  120 
Prevention    of    insect    visitors, 

178 

self-fertilization,  174 
Prickles,  156,  182 
Procumbent,  156 
Prosaic  herbaria,  19,  21 
Proterandrous,  175 
Proterogynous,  175 
Purple  Gerardia,  125 

Rabbit's-foot  Clover,  185 
Raceme,  163 
Radical,  158 
Radicle,  184 
Rare  species,  96 
Ray  florets,  77 
Receptacle,  78,  179 
Records  of  plants,  53,  71 
Recurved  teeth,  178 
Red  Clover,  185,  186 
Removal  of  damp  papers,  131- 
133 

dry  plants,  134 
Reniform,  161 
Reproductive  organs,  164 
Robin's  Plantain,  study  of,  74- 

82 

Rockrose,  117,  130 
Roots,  69,  95,  155 

pressure  of,  125 
Rose,  Wild,  148 
Roses,  131 

Sagittate,  161 
Salver-shaped,  166 
Samara,  181 
Scale,  162 

Scarecrow  plants,  120 
School  herbarium,  18 


196 


INDEX 


Scissors,  use  of,  28,  94 
Second-hand  books,  34 
Seed,  183 

covering,  183 

eggs,  168 

leaves,  184 

shooting,  183 

vessels,  180 

Seedlings  of  Jewelweed,  56 
Self-fertilization,  169,  176 

prevention  of,  174 
Sepals,  165 
Serrate,  160 
Sessile,  113,  157 
Sheathing  leaves,  158 
Shepherd's  Purse,  150 
Sign-post  method  of  mounting, 

121 

Silicle,  180 
Silique,  180 
Simple  leaves,  159 
Single  fruit,  179 
Sketches  of  plants,  54,  70,  81 
Skullcap,  186 
Smartweed,  185 
Soft  fruits,  pressure  of,  137 
Spathe,  162 
Species,  185 
Spike,  163 
Spines,  178 
Spotted  Cowbane,  186 
Spurred,  166 
Stamens,  80,  166,  173 
Staminate,  174 
Stellate,  166 
Stems,  156 
Sticky  glands,  178 
Stigma,  168,  172,  173 

as  "sweep's  brush,"  80 
Stipules,  162 


Stone-fruits,  181 
Storing  press,  use  of,  139 
Strapping  the  press,  119,  128 
Strawberry,  Wild,  147 
Strips,  adhesive,  41,  42 
Study  of  technical  terms,  68 
Style,  168 

Sundrops,  Little,  149 
Surgeon's    plaster,   use   of,   41, 

147,  150 
Swamp  Buttercup,  73 

Tablespoon,  use  of,  29 

Tall  Buttercup,  69,  73 

Tap  root,  155 

Tearthumb,  185 

Tegmen,  184 

Testa,  184 

Time  allowed  for  drying  plants, 

131 

Trifoliate,  160 
Trowel,  28 
Tuberous  roots,  155 
Tubular  corolla,  165 
Twining  stems,  157 

Umbel,  163 

Unequal  pressure,  harm  of,  129 

Unisexual,  177 

Urceolate,  165 

Variety,  185 

Various  kinds  of  fruits,  180 
methods        of        preserving 

plants,  120,  121 
Varying  colors   of   same  fruit, 

136 

Vasculum,  27,  93 
Vinegar,  use  of,  144 
Violet,  Dog's-tooth,  110 


INDEX  197 

Wadding,  use  of,  38,  82,  139  Yam-root,  124 

Water-plants,  collecting,  29  Willow  Herbs,  148 

White  Clover,  185  Wind-fertilized  flowers,  78,  172 

Daisy,  113  Wind-flower,  60 

White-weed,  113  Withe-rod,  136 
Whorled  leaves,  159 

Wild  Carrot,  186  Yam-root,  Wild,  124 

Clematis,  136  Yarrow,  148 

Lupine,  138  Yellow    Adder's    Tongue,    106, 

Rose,  148  110,  111 

Strawberry,  147 


THE  LIBRARY 
UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 

Santa  Barbara 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 
STAMPED  BELOW. 


RETURNED  OCT  13  198T 


UC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 

iiillill 

AA    000958460    8 


